tihvaxy  of  Che  theological  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


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PRESENTED  BY 

the  Estate  of 
Rev.  David  Henderson^^^odwillie 

BX  7233  .N4  G6 
Newton,  B.  Gwernydd 
Glimpses  of  God,  and  other 
sermons 


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Glimpses  of  God, 


AND  OTHER  SERMONS, 


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^^H  OF  PF.IUce 


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OCT  9    1945  ^ 


BY       / 

B.  GWERNYDD  NEWTON, 

Pastor  Franklin  Avenue  Congregational  Church, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 


cleveland: 
franklin  avenue  congregational  church. 

1897. 


Copyright  1S97,  by  B.  Gwernvdd  Newton. 


THE    IMPERIAL   PRESS,, 
CLEVELAND,    O, 


TO    MY    IJROTHER, 

REV.   GEORGE   TALALUN   NEWTON, 

TO    WHOM    I    AM    INDEBTED   MORE    THAN    TO    ANY    OTHER 

MAN,    FOR    MY  "glimpses    OF    GOD,"  THIS 

VOLUME   IS    AFFECTIONATELY 

DEDICATED. 


"  Z<?,  tJicsc  arc  parts  of  His  7vays  :  hut  Jiow  little 
a  portion  is  heard  of  Him  ?  but  the  tJiunder  of  His 
power  zvho  eaii  understand  f  " — Job  26  :  14. 


PREFACE. 

These  sermons  are  published  at  the  request  of  my 
ehurch  and  cono-rej^-ation,  who  hope  in  this  way  to 
pay  off  the  debt  on  our  church  building.  This  plan 
was  adopted  because  it  promised  to  be  the  simplest, 
surest  and  most  satisfactory  method  of  realizing  the 
necessary  amount.  While  it  affords  ample  oppor- 
tunity for  all  to  work,  it  burdens  none.  It  gives 
us  the  privilege  of  appealing  to  the  Christian  public 
for  aid,  and  the  satisfaction  of  giving  something  in 
return.  No  profit  will  accrue  to  the  author  until  all 
the  debt  is  paid.  We  hope  the  volume  will  be  found 
well  worth  the  money  expended  upon  it.  If  we  had 
not  this  hope,  it  would  never  have  been  published. 

B.  G.  N. 

Franklin  Avenue  Congregational  Church, 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  May  31,  1S97. 


CONTENTS. 

Part  I. 
GLIMPSES  OF  GOD. 


PACK.. 


I.      The  Request         .  .  .  .  .11 

"And  he  said,  1  beseech  Thee  show  me 
Tliy  glory." — Ex.  33:  18. 

1.  Rational        .  .  .  .  •        ^3 

2.  Relii^ions      .....        30 

3.  Royal 34 

IT.      The   Response 41 

"  1  will  make  all  My  goodness  pass  be- 
fore thee Thou  canst  not  see 

My  face    ....     and  live I 

will  put  thee  in  a  clift  of  the  rock,  and  will 
cover  thee  with  My  hand  while  I  pass  by. 
.  .  .  .  Thou  shalt  see  My  back  parts : 
but  My  face  shall  not  ])e  seen." 

—Ex.  33:  19-23. 

1.  Reservation  in  Revelation  .  .        45 

2.  Reason  for  Reservation        .  .        49 
2.    Revelation  in  Reserve          .  .        52 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

III.  The  Realization  .         .  .  .       6i 

"  Be  ready  in  the  morning,  and  come 

up  in  the  morning  unto  Mount  Sinai.     .     . 

No   man   shall   come   up   with  thee. 

.     .     .     .    Moses  rose    ....    and  went 

up  unto  Mount  Sinai The  Lord 

descended  in  the  cloud  and  stood  with  him 
there.  .  .  .  The  Lord  passed  by  before 
him,  and  proclaimed,  the  Lord,  The  Lord 
God,  merciful  and  gracious." — Ex.  34:  2-7. 

1.  Recipient     .....        62 

2.  Reception    .  .  .  .  -71 

3.  Received  Glimpses       .  .  .79 

IV.  The  Result 87 

"And  Moses  made  haste  and  bowed  his 

head   ....    and  worshipped 

The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  write  thou  these 
words:  ....  He  was  with  the  Lord 
forty  days  and  forty  nights ;  he  did  neither 

eat  bread  nor  drink  water When 

he  came  down  from  the  Motuit  .... 
Moses  wist  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face 
shone  ....  he  gave  them  in  com- 
mandment all  that  the  Lord  had  spoken 
with  him  in  Mount  Sinai." 

— Ex.  34:  8,  9,  27-32. 


1.  Reverence    . 

2.  Retention     . 

3.  Rumination 

4.  Reproduction 


90 
94 
97 

100 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Part  II. 
SECRETS  OF  SALVATION. 

PAGE. 

V.  The  Three  Crosses  ....  109 
"And  when  they  were  come  to  the 
place  which  is  called  Calvary,  there  they 
crucified  Him,  and  the  malefactors,  one 
on  the  right  hand  and  the  other  on  the 
left." — Luke  23:  33. 

1.  The  Cross  of  Selfishness      .  .      115 

2.  The  Cross  of  Self-Surrender        .      121 

3.  The  Cross  of  Self-Sacrifice  .      128 

VI.     The  Success  of  Failure     .  .  -135 

"  Why  seek  ye  the  living  among  the 
dead  ?     He  is  not  here  but  is  risen." 

— Luke  24:  5-6. 

1.  Failure — nnfoiind  where  songht.      141 

2.  Success — unsought  where  found.      148 

3.  Success  of  Failure — found  where 

unsought,     because    sought 
where  unfound  .  .  .158 

VII.      Faith's  Faithful  Foundation  .  .      165 

"  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy 
of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners ;  of  whom  I 
am  chief.  "—I  Tim.  i:  15. 

1.  The  Faithfulness  of  the  Gospel 

as  a  Historical  Fact  .  .170 

2.  The  Faithfulness  of  the  Gospel 

as  a  Doctrinal  Fact  ,  .      tj^ 

3.  The  Faithfulness   of  the  Gospel 

as  an  Experimental  Fact  .      186 


X  CONTENTS. 

TAGE. 

VIII.     Simeon  and  the  Saviour    .  .  .      193 

"And,  behold,  there  was  a  man  in  Jeru- 
salem, whose  name  was  Simeon;  and  the 
same  man  was  just  and  devout,  waiting 
for  the  consolation  of  Israel:  ....  He 
came  by  the  Spirit  into  the  Temple :  .  . 
.  .  Then  tQok  he  Him  up  in  his  arms, 
and  blessed  God,  and  said;  Lord,  now 
lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace, 
.  .  .  .  mine  eyes  have  seen  Th}^  salva- 
tion, ....  a  light  to  lighten  the 
Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  thy  people 
Israel." — Luke  2:  25-32. 

1.  Simeon,  as  a  Seeker    .  .  .      200 

2.  Simeon's  Search  .  .  .211 

3.  Simeon's  Success  and  Song  .      216 

IX.     The  Uplifted  Christ,    and   Upltfjed 

Humanity    .....      225 
"And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
wdl  draw  all  men  unto  Myself."  (R.  V.) 

— John  12:  32. 

1.  Christ  Uplifted  on  the  Cross        .      230 

2.  The  Cross  Uplifting  Christ  .      238 

3.  Christ  LTplifting  the  Cross  .  .      249 

4.  The    Uplifted    Christ,    Throngh 

the   Uplifted   Cross,   Uplifting 
Humanity.         .  .  .  -252 


GLIMPSES  OF  (;OD. 

THE    REQUEST. 

"  And  he  said,  '  I  beseech  Thee,  show  me  Thy  glory.'  " — 
ExoDis  33:  iS. 

Wherever  man  is  found,  there  God  is  soiig-ht. 
Inquiry  concerning-  the  Infinite  is  man's  most  im- 
perative impulse.  The  most  imiversal  and  un- 
avoidable cravini^  of  the  human  soul  is  for  the 
Divine.  ]\Ian's  most  absorbin^]^  ambition  and  aim  is 
to  acquaint  himself  with  the  Almio-hty.  It  is  his 
most  urg-ent  and  imceasing  need,  unconscious  oft, 
unsatisfied  ever,  until  the  Universal  Father  is  seen. 
While  the  soul  lives,  this  desire  will  never  die.  As 
the  soul  is  immortal  and  the  intellect  indestructible, 
so  is  the  spirit  of  inquiry  concerning  the  Infinite 
imperishable.  Conscience  creates  in  man,  in  all 
climes  and  conditions,  a  craving  for  the  Creator. 
The  supreme  search  of  the  soul  is  the  search  for  the 
Supreme.  As  all  streams  seek  the  sea,  and  sparks 
soar  toward  the  sun,  so  seeks  the  soul  satisfaction 


12  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

in  the  Supreme.  Human  history  is  hope  soaring 
heavenward,  though  oft  falling  to  earth  like  a 
bird  with  a  broken  wing.  All  created  energies 
converge  toward,  center  and  culminate  in  the  Cre- 
ator. Every  intellect  is  instinct  with  the  inspired 
impulse  to  seek  for  God.  This  emphasizes  the  two 
essential  truths  of  religion, —  that  there  is  a  God, 
and  that  God  may  be  known.  If  there  is  no  God, 
whence  this  universal  instinct?  If  God  can  not  be 
known,  why  this  universal  impulse  ?  Nature  is 
never  false,  but  ever  true.  Hence,  to  believe  that 
she  is  universally,  unceasingly  and  uniformly  un- 
true, is  unwarranted  and  tmreasonable.  This 
primitive  and  permanent  prompting  of  the  univer- 
sal heart  is  a  pre-eminent  pledge  and  potent  proof 
of  the  personality  of  God.  Without  a  personal  God, 
this  prompting  could  not  be ;  with  this  prompting, 
a  personal  God  could  not  but  be.  A  personal  God 
alone  accounts  for  the  prompting,  and  the  prompt- 
ing is  satisfied  only  in  a  personal  God.  Thus,  the 
religious  instinct  demands  faith  in  God,  and  faith 
in  God  necessitates  faith  in  a  revelation  of  God. 
That  which  is  universal  and  unavoidable  can  not  be 
unwarranted,  or  long  remain  unsatisfied.  The 
deeper  the  soul's  consciousness  of  God,  the  might- 
ier moves  the  mind,  like  a  rushing  river,  seeking 
the  ocean  of  the  Eternal.     What  wonder,  then,  that 


THE    REQUEST.  13 

Moses,  the  "  man  of  God,"  should  break  forth  in 
the  impassioned  appeal,  "Show  me  Thy  or-iory. " 
He  but  voiced  the  deep  yearnini>-  of  every  soul  that 
has  awakened  to  its  own  possibilities,  and  become 
conscious  of  its  own  need.  Yea,  verily,  he  echoed 
in  those  words  the  cry  of  the  universal  heart,  for 
what  all  men  need  and  seek,  consciously  or  un- 
consciously, is  to  know  God.  The  irrepressible 
instinct  to  seek  the  Infinite  finds  expression  in  in- 
numerable ways,  but  satisfaction  in  one  way  only — 
seeing  the  glory  of  God.  The  human  heart  yearns 
for  God,  and  for  a  God  wdiich  it  can  know  and  love. 
So  that  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the  request  of 
Moses  is  typical  of  the  request  of  every  man,  and 
this  brings  us  to  our  subject  —  TJic  Request. 

"  I  beseech  Thee,  show  me  Thy  glory." 

The  spirit  of  this  request  is  rational,  religious, 
and  royal,  while  in  form  it  is  possibly  wanting  in  all 
these  qualities. 

I.        THIS    REQUEST    IS    RATIONAL. 

It  presupposes  not  only  that  it  is  possible  to  know 
God,  but  that  to  some  extent  He  is  already  known. 
It  can  not  but  imply  three  things  in  the  soul  that 
conceived  it :  a  conviction  of  the  existence  of  God, 
a  craving  for  a  closer  contact  with  Him,  and  a  con- 
sciousness of  an  unworthy  and  unsatisfying  concep- 


14  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

tion  of  Him.  Thus,  this  request  for  a  special  revela- 
tion of  Jehovah  is  an  acknowledgment  that  He  has 
already  revealed  Himself,  for  there  could  be  no 
desire  for  a  greater,  if  the  less  great  had  not  been 
given  and  appreciated.  The.  text,  therefore,  im- 
plies that  — 

(a)  Glimpses  of  God  ai'c  possible.  Men  deny 
to-day  the  possibility  of  securing  glimpses  of 
God.  He  is  looked  upon  by  the  agnostic  as  the 
great  Unknown  and  Unknowable.  These  terms 
are  emphatically  and  effectually  denied  in  the  ex- 
perience of  every  true  worshipper  of  the  Father. 
If  He  is  tmknowable,  He  can  not  be  God.  Man's 
progress,  mental  and  moral,  is  determined  by 
his  knowledge  of,  and  conformity  to,  truth.  If 
God,  who  is  by  hypothesis  good,  reserves  to  Him- 
self what  He  might  reveal  with  benefit  to  man, 
He  denies  Himself.  Any  charge  substantiated 
against  the  goodness  of  Jehovah  is  a  denial  of  His 
Divinity.  Selfishness  is  wrong  in  man,  and  can  not 
be  right  in  God.  ^A  being  who  hides  truth  that 
would  help  others  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness  is 
selfish,  and  selfishness  is  sin.  A  God  of  love  can 
not  but  in  love  make  Himself  known.  God,  with- 
out power  and  desire  to  make  Himself  known,  and 
man  without  power  and  desire  to  know  God,  are  to 
us  self-contradictions.     The  human  mind  possesses 


THE    REQUEST.  1 5 

power  to  commimicatc  with,  and  seeks  to  influenee 
mind.  Is  the  Infinite  mind  less  gifted,  or  the  In- 
finite heart  less  gracious?  Man,  without  the  desire 
to  know  his  Maker,  is  unknown.  He  has  been  cre- 
ated to  glorify  God,  and  wisely  endowed  with  facul- 
ties that  are  useless,  save  in  this  sacred  service. 
The  supreme  function  of  the  soul  is  to  serve  the 
Supreme.  The  divinest  power  in  man  is  his  power 
to  commune  with  the  Divine.  Sanctified  commun- 
ion with  God  is  the  secret  of  spiritual  conformity. 
Communion  and  conformity  between  beings  desti- 
tute of  the  faculty  of  communication  are  contradic- 
tions. If  God  has  endowed  man  with  useless  facul- 
ties, and  planted  in  his  soul  impulses  and  powers 
which  can  never  be  exercised  or  satisfied.  He  has 
created  him  in  a  manner  unkind,  imwise,  and  tm- 
just,  therefore  unlike  God.  We  know  of  no  instinct 
in  the  vast  world,  but  may  find  ample  opportunities 
to  be  satisfied  in  the  exercise  of  its  function.  Are 
we  to  believe  that  God  has  created  the  profoundest 
instinct  of  the  soul  to  belie  and  mock  it  ?  No,  a 
thousand  Noes.  The  craving  of  man's  heart  for  the 
Divine,  and  the  thirst  of  his  soul  for  knowledge  of 
God,  are  sufficient  proofs  that  glimpses  of  God  are 
possible.  If  God  can  not  be  known,  man  has  no 
responsibility ;  duty  is  an  idle  word,  without  mean- 
ing.    Duty  implies  obligation.     Where  there  is  no 


1 6  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

knowledg-e  there  can  be  no  obligation,  and  where 
there  is  no  obligation  there  is  no  God.  But  the  "  I 
ought  "  of  humanity  is  universal.  Whence  comes 
it,  if  God  has  not  revealed  Himself?  The  moral 
sense  in  man  necessitates  belief  in  a  moral  ruler, 
and  this  implies  revelation.  The  human  conscience 
in  its  wonderful  evolution,  with  its  increase  of  light 
on  moral  questions  from  decade  to  decade,  is  simply 
inexplicable,  if  God  has  not  revealed  Himself. 
Man's  mental  and  moral  natures  demand  for  their 
completeness  a  revelation  of  the  mind  of  God. 
Faith  in  the  revelation  of  God  is  only  the  unavoid- 
able counterpart  of  belief  in  the  existence  of  God. 
Whoever  believes  that  God  is,  and  that  He  is  love, 
must  of  necessity  believe  that  glimpses  of  God  are 
possible.  Whatever  a  man's  philosophical  or  theo- 
logical definition  of  Hell  may  be,  its  soul  must  ever 
remain — the  hidden  face  of  God.  No  greater  Hell 
is  possible  than  to  be  removed  permanently  from 
the  presence  of  the  Almighty,  where  all  communi- 
cation with  Him  is  impossible.  A  being  therefore 
who  hides  himself  of  choice,  when  the  happiness  of 
myriads  of  men  is  ruined  thereby,  may  be  a  devil, 
but  a  God — never.  The  goodness  of  God  seeks  the 
happiness  of  all  His  creatures,  and  this  is  best  re- 
alized in  revealing  His  own  goodness. 

{b)     Glimpses   of  God  are  actual.       This   means 


THE    REQUEST.  I7 

that  in  mercy  He  has  made  Himself  known  to  man. 
This  He  has  done  in  different  modes  and  divers 
manners,  by  natural  and  supernatural  means,  in 
man's  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  natures.  God  has 
revealed  Himself  in  a  natural  revelation,  in  the 
material,  mental  and  moral  world. 

I.  God  speaks  to  man  in  the  material  universe. 
All  thing-s  created  demonstrate  the  majesty  of  the 
mind  and  the  eternal  power  of  the  Creator,  "  for  the 
invisible  things  of  Him  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  are  clearly  seen,  being-  understood  by  the 
things  that  are  made,  even  His  eternal  power  and 
Godhead."  "The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of 
God,  and  the  firmament  showeth  His  handiwork." 
No  being  equipped  with  intellectual  faculties,  need 
fail  to  find  in  Nature,  if  he  be  anxious,  a  clear  testi- 
mony to  the  existence  of  God,  and  of  His  sovereign 
will.  The  reasoning  faculty  with  which  man  is  en- 
dowed will  enable  him,  through  a  mental  process, 
to  arrive  at  an  intellectual  knowledge  of  God.  Mind 
intuitively  demands  a  cause  for  every  effect,  and 
moreover,  that  every  cause  be  as  great,  or  greater, 
than  the  effect.  It  is  a  truism  that  like  alone  pro- 
duces like.  The  inference  is  therefore  natural,  if 
not  irresistible,  that  tlic  mind  expressed  in  the  nia- 
terial  universe  demands  for  its  creative  cause  an 
intelligent,  personal  Being.      The  utility  of  creation 


l8  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

and  its  beneficent  laws  indicate  the  wisdom  of  the 
Creator.  Eveiything  in  Nature  expresses,  accord- 
ing to  its  several  ability,  the  majesty  of  the  mind  of 
its  Maker.  Her  every  voice  echoes  the  voice  Divine. 
The  inanimate  world  speaks  only  what  God  to  it 
has  spoken.  He  told  the  lily  to  be  white  and  beau- 
tiful, and  all  she  sweetly  says  is,  "  Be  wdiite  and 
beautiful."  He  said  to  the  sun,  "  Let  thy  light 
shine,"  and  all  that  the  sun  has  ever  said  is,  "  Let 
thy  light  shine."  Inanimate  nature  is  instinct  with 
the  impulse  to  inspire  the  intellect  with  increased 
interest  in  the  Infinite.  Comets  and  constellations, 
stars  and  suns,  illuminate  the  pathway  to  the  mind 
of  the  Eternal.  Their  light  lend  they  in  love,  to 
lead  the  lost  back  to  the  Lord  of  Life.  Each  soli- 
tary star  in  the  sky  strives  to  stimulate  the  soul  to 
seek  the  vSupreme.  Every  beam  of  light  is  brimful 
of  love,  as  it  seeks  to  illuminate  the  temple  of  the 
soul  with  the  light  of  faith.  The  birds,  in  melodious 
song  make  known  their  Maker.  The  balmy  breezes 
bring  benediction,  and  breathe  blessing  upon  each 
burning  brow,  as  softly  they  whisper  "  Hope  thou 
in  God."  The  murmuring  brook,  with  its  minor 
music,  as  it  quenches  the  thirst  of  man  and  beast, 
tells  the  best  it  can  of  the  love  and  care  of  God  for 
his  creatures.  The  perennial  spring,  as  it  mirrors 
Heaven,    shows   the    soul    how  it  may  mirror  God, 


THE    RFQl^F.ST.  1 9 

Every  flower  that  cools  and  caresses  with  sweet  per- 
fume the  cruel  foot  that  crushes  it,  j^ives  man  a 
lesson  in  forg-ivcness,  and  whispers  in  death,  "  God 
is  love. "  Thus,  everythin<(  in  the  material  uni- 
verse, from  the  starry  sky  to  the  sands  of  the  sea, 
from  the  dewdrop  which  glitters  in  the  mornini^- 
sunlight  to  the  mighty  restless  deep,  blend  their 
voices  in  saying  to  him  who  hath  ears  to  hear, 
"  Have  faith  in  God." 

2.  God  reveals  Himself  in  man's  mental  nature. 
The  human  mind  is  only  an  expressed  thought  of 
the  mind  Divine.  The  mind  of  man  in  its  majesty 
mirrors  faithfully,  though  faintly,  the  mind  of  the 
Eternal.  In  all  its  manifold  movements  it  mani- 
fests the  creative  energy  of  the  mind  of  God.  Every 
thought  evolved,  every  truth  recognized,  every 
discovery  made,  adds  new  emphasis  and  force  to 
the  clear  and  constant  testimony  of  the  finite  mind  to 
the  Tnfmite.  Every  faculty  and  power  with  which 
the  human  intellect  is  endowed  are  lenses  in  its  tel- 
escope, which  enable  the  observer  to  secure  glimpses 
of  God.  Man  has  been  created  in  the  image  of  (lod, 
and  like  Him,  he  is  able  to  think,  yea,  and  to  think 
like  Him,  for  he  thinks  God's  thoughts  after  Him. 
The  pleasures  secured  in  intellectual  pursuits,  and 
the  joys  of  contemplative  thought,  demand  for  their 
completion  and  crown,  the   Infinite,  who  alone  can 


20  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

account  for,  and  satisfy  the  mind.  The  mind  of 
man  is  meaningless,  unless  there  be  a  mightier 
mind  with  which  it  can  communicate,  and  on  which 
it  can  meditate, — a  mind  mighty  enoiigh  to  move  it 
to  muse  and  to  mould  its  musings.  The  human 
mind  is  meditative,  because  the  divine  mind  is  com- 
municative. A  meditative  human  mind  is  inexpli- 
cable without  a  communicative  divine  mind.  The 
intellectual  nature  of  man  receives  its  inspiration 
and  satisfaction  only  in  an  intelligent,  infinite,  per- 
sonal Creator.      Mind  mirrors  its  Maker. 

3.  God  reveals  Himself  in  man's  moral  nature. 
The  soul  of  every  natural  revelation  of  God  is  the 
revelation  of  God  in  the  soul.  The  soul  of  what 
Nature  speaks  of  the  Supreme  is  what  the  Supreme 
speaks  in  the  soul.  Man's  moral  nature  most  mir- 
rors God,  for  it  is  most  like  the  God  it  mirrors. 
The  soul  doth  most  bear  the  image  of  God;  and  the 
soul  that  doth  the  image  of  God  .most  bear  is  the 
soul  most  like  the  image  it  bears.  Conscience, — the 
Shekinah  in  the  sanctuary  of  spirit,  the  manifesta- 
tion of  God's  presence  and  glory,  the  royal  repre- 
sentative of  righteousness  in  the  realm  of  reason, 
the  advocate  of  God  in  the  soul's  tribunal,  the  ethi- 
cal echo  of  the  Eternal, — is  a  revelation  of  God  in  the 
soul.  Thus,  the  deepest,  divinest  and  most  inde- 
structible portion  of  our  being  bears  distinct  testi- 


THE    REQUEST.  2  1 

mony  to  the  nature  and  character  of  God,  and  gives 
us  glimpses  of  His  glory.  The  sense  of  responsi- 
bility in  man  is  in  itself  a  revelation.  The  universal 
sense  of  obligation  in  tlie  human  soul  is  inexpli- 
cable, without  God;  with  Him,  nothing  is  more 
natural.  The  soul  craves  the  Creator,  and  if  it  fail 
to  find  Him,  it  creates  its  own  God.  This  instinct 
whicli  is  universal,  and  this  impulse  of  worsliip 
which  is  imperative,  surely  indicate  the  existence 
of  God.  Man  is  ever  conscious  of  a  sense  of  obliga- 
tion and  a  feeling  of  responsibility.  In  manifold 
ways,  he  instinctively  seeks  to  atone  for  any  omis- 
sion in  the  fulfillment  of  his  supposed  duty.  Con- 
science becomes  more  exacting  decade  after  decade. 
The  moral  sense  of  right  and  wrong  constantly  be- 
comes keener.  The  soul  is  ever  becoming  more 
sensitive  to  the  sense  and  shame  of  sin,  and  society 
more  imperative  in  its  demands  for  personal  purity 
and  national  righteousness.  Justice,  truth  and 
purity,  hope,  faith  and  charity  are  appreciated  to- 
day as  never  before.  We  look  upon  as  vices  wliat 
our  fathers  looked  upon  as  virtues.  This  ethical 
evolution  of  conscience,  without  (xod,  and  without 
the  light  of  God  in  the  soul,  is  a  mystery  of  mys- 
teries. The  soul,  each  time  it  utters  ''  I  ought," 
confesses  God.  All  sorrow,  sniTcring  and  shame 
experienced   because   of   sin,  every  pleasure   or  joy 


2  2  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

realized  because  of  virtue,  declares — there  is  a  God. 
All  sense  of  guilt,  every  attempt  to  atone  for  sin,  is 
imperishable  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  moral 
ruler.  Thus  are  glimpses  of  God  possible  to  all 
anxious  to  secure  them,  in  the  material,  mental  and 
moral  world.  They  may  be  realized  only  through 
the  right  use  of  proper  methods,  the  right  employ- 
ment of  proper  faculties,  and  careful  conformity  to 
the  laws  of  investigation.  This  knowledge  of  God 
can  not  be  secured  unless  the  soul  seek  it,  and  he 
who  seeks  well  will  ever  be  successful  in  his  search. 
The  revelation  will  not  appeal,  however,  with  the 
same  force  to  all  minds,  for  the  greater  the  mind 
and  the  more  reverential  the  spirit,  the  greater  will 
be  the  realization  and  the  deeper  the  appreciation 
of  the  glimpses  secured.  Different  evidences  ap- 
peal with  varying  convincing  force  to  various  minds, 
and  this  ethical  and  intellectual  knowledge  of  God 
will  not  influence  or  inspire  all  alike.  Nevertheless, 
glimpses  are  accessible  to  all  and  should  be  invalu- 
able to  all,  as  a  potent  though  primitive  proof,  of 
the  presence  and  pre-eminence  of  a  personal  Creator 
in  the  universe.  The  glimpses  of  God  secured  in 
the  material  world  will  move  most  mightily  the  poet, 
while  the  ethical  knowledge  of  God,  the  revelation 
secured  in  the  moral  realm,  will  move  most  mightil)^ 
the  matter-of-fact  moralist.      We  will  receive  from 


THE    REQUEST.  23 

Nature  whatever  we  invest,  with  proportionate  in- 
terest. The  seientist  will  seenre  the  secrets  of 
science,  tlie  poet  poetr3^  the  theologian  theology, 
and  all  who  seek  for  the  Infinite,  glimpses  of  God. 
The  more  intelligence  and  interest,  sympathy  and 
sincerity  we  invest  in  Nature,  the  more  will  we  be 
able  to  draw  on  her  bank  book,  of  interest  and  capi- 
tal. Nature  speaks  many  languages,  but  is  polite 
enough,  imvaryingly,  to  clothe  her  answer  in  the 
tongue  in  which  she  has  been  addressed.  She  is 
ever  like  a  loving,  though  not  over-indulgent  moth- 
er, who  always  gives  good  gifts  to  her  children,  but 
ever  with  kind  and  deep  discrimination.  If  any  ask 
a  fish,  she  will  never  give  a  serpent.  If  any  ask 
bread,  she  will  never  give  a  stone.  Her  gifts,  how- 
ever, are  ever  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  re- 
quest and  the  spirit  of  the  recipient.  He  who  seeks 
for  coal  will  never  discover  a  comet.  He  who 
studies  the  sky  will  learn  the  secret  of  the  stars,  and 
not  the  song  of  the  sea;  he  will  learn  the  lesson  of 
law  in  the  language  of  light,  and  not  the  lesson  of 
love  in  the  language  of  the  leaves  and  the  lily. 
Each  will  gather  from  Nature  only  that  which  cor- 
responds to  what  he  already  possesses.  ''  To  him 
that  hath  it  shall  be  given  "is  a  law  of  nature  as 
well  as  grace.  Hence,  some  become  proficient  in 
one   branch   of   study,  some   in   another,  and  in  his 


24  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

special  field  is  each  most  likely  to  find  God.  Man's 
head  invariably  follows  his  heart.  He  will  ever 
learn  to  know  what  he  loves,  and  that  only  as  he 
loves  to  know.  Thus,  the  glimpses  of  God  in  Na- 
ture always  come  to  man  through  the  royal  road  of 
loyal  love.  The  astronomer  will  be  borne  in  a 
chariot  of  light,  over  a  fiery  pathway  to  the  presence 
of  Jehovah.  Every  ray  of  light  pencils  for  him,  in 
rich  and  royal  radiance,  the  glories  of  the  Creator. 
The  poet,  with  a  devout  spirit,  will  bend  the  knee 
in  the  temple  of  beauty,  to  do  homage  to  the  God 
who  painted  the  lily  and  robed  the  rose.  Never- 
theless, the  knowledge  of  God  learned  from  Nature's 
open  book,  though  of  inestimable  value,  fails  to 
satisfy  the  soul's  craving.  Nay  rather,  it  intensifies 
the  longing  of  the  human  heart,  increases  man's 
ambition,  and  inspires  him  with  new  aspiration  for 
a  clearer  and  worthier  conception  of  the  Divine. 
Nature  can  never  appease  the  hunger  of  the  soul. 
She  but  wings  hope,  fires  faith,  and  inspires  love  to 
move  in  quest  of  God.  The  glimpses  of  God  gleaned 
from  the  fertile  fields  of  Nature  are  inefiicient  to 
qualify  man  to  realize  the  purposes  of  his  Crea- 
tion, therefore  a  superior  revelation  is  imperative. 
The  necessity  demands  the  supply.  The  yearning 
of  the  soul  for  God  is  a  prophecy  and  a  pledge  of 
God-given    satisfaction.       The    promptings    of   the 


THK    REQUEST.  25 

human  heart  and  the  revelations  of  Nature  are  CtocI- 
^•iven  promises  of  greater  revelations  of  Himself, 
and  God  must  be  faithful  to  His  own  promises.  A 
good  God  must  seek  the  good  of  all  His  creatures. 
Man  is  happy  only  as  he  is  good,  and  good  only  as 
he  knows  God.  He  can  not  know  God  only  as  God 
in  love  niakes  Himself  known.  ]\Ian  needs  Ciod, 
and  is  constrained  thereby  to  seek  Him.  This  God- 
given  desire  and  Godward  tendency  of  the  soul 
must  inevitably,  by  the  law  of  love,  crystallize  into 
actual  glimpses  of  God.  Granted  that  Ciod  is  love, 
and  it  is  granted  that  the  best  revelation  possible  to 
the  best  love  is  given  to  man.  Love  claims  love, 
and  the  best  love  demands  the  best  of  which  love  is 
capable.  The  Infinite  Mind  can  be  satisfied  only  in 
the  satisfaction  of  the  mind  it  has  created.  Mind 
in  its  majesty  seeks  to  mould  and  move  mind.  It 
can  not  but  be  communicative  and  seek  affinities. 
All  wdio  believe  in  an  intelligent  God  must  believe 
in  a  revelation  of  Him.  The  possibility  of  ever}' 
revelation  depends  upon  God's  desire  to  make  Him- 
self known,  and  man's  ability  to  appreciate  the 
revelation  given.  The  goodness  of  all  intelligent 
beings  in  the  universe  depends  upon  their  knowl- 
edge of  God.  Therefore,  a  (iod  of  love  can  not 
withhold  the  highest  manifestation  pf)ssible  of  Him- 
self, from  those  anxious  to  receive  it.     When  Moses 


26  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

cried  "  Show  me  Thy  gioiy, "  the  request  was  per- 
fectly rational,  for  already  he  had  received  special 
manifestations  of  the  majesty,  the  mind,  and  the 
mercy  of  God.  The  knowledge  thus  secured,  though 
of  much  greater  value  than  the  revelation  of  nature, 
only  led  him  to  expect  and  to  seek  a  higher  mani- 
festation of  God's  glor3\  There  are  times  in  a  man's 
history  when  the  responsibility  of  life  would  crush 
him,  were  it  not  possible  for  him  to  be  relieved  and 
strengthened  b}^  glimpses  of  God.  No  one  in  his 
century,  or  probably  in  any  previous  century,  needed 
or  received  such  glorious  manifestations  of  the  divine 
majesty  as  the  "  Man  of  God."  Nobly  had  they 
been  received,  and  none  the  less  nobly  had  they 
been  reproduced  in  his  life.  He  possessed  in  a  high 
degree  all  the  necessar}'  qualifications  to  apprehend 
and  appreciate  God's  natural  and  supernatural 
revelations.  He  had  a  genius  for  poetry  and  proph- 
ecy. His  eye  was  searching,  his  ear  sensitive,  his 
heart  sympathetic,  and  these  are  the  three  impera- 
tive conditions  of  prophetic  and  poetic  insight.  But 
few  men  have  ever  walked  this  planet  who  were  able 
to  appreciate  or  interpret  Nature  as  Moses.  Na- 
ture kept  but  few  secrets  from  him  who  loved  her 
so  well.  He  secured  a  keener  insight  into  the  m3^s- 
teries  of  Creation,  and  beheld  more  of  the  glor}^  of 
the  Creator  than  any  man  before  him.     Day  by  day. 


THE    RFJJUEST.  27 

under  the  inspiration  (^f  (tocI,  had  he  stood  in  the 
(ienesis  of  ereation,  witnessiniif  ehaos  eharmed  into 
eosmos,  and  privilei^-ed  to  behold  the  birth  of  lii;"ht, 
hiw  and  b'fe.  He  heard  the  divine  voiee,  whose 
eeho  is  the  inspiration  of  all  life  and  beauty,  callini*- 
into  beino-  the  universe.  He  listened  with  enrapt- 
ured soul  to  the  musie  of  those  words,  so  frau^-ht 
with  creative  energy,  and,  lost  in  adoration,  he  gazed 
on  the  first  miracle  of  resurrection — life  ushering 
forth  from  the  tombs  and  vaults  of  death,  dead  mat- 
ter becoming  vivified  with  light,  instinct  and  ani- 
mated witli  life.  He  stood  by  the  cradle  of  crea- 
tion, looked  with  inspired  eye  on  the  evolution  of 
life,  and  saw  infinite  space  blossom  into  teeming 
worlds.  He  heard,  witli  inspired  ear,  every  melo- 
dious sound  of  which  Nature's  harp  is  capable.  He 
was  present  at  every  concert  given  by  the  creation, 
up  to  his  day.  He  listened  to  the  sweet  melody  of 
the  morning  stars  when  they  sang  together,  and  was 
charmed  when  Nature's  sublime  symphony  rendered 
for  tlie  first  time  the  Hallelujali  cliorus.  He  listened 
so  well  that  he  learned  every  note  of  Nature's  glori- 
(jus  anthem.  He  saw  the  Garden  of  Eden,  clothed 
in  matchless  beauty  and  adorned  with  ro3'al  robes, 
full  of  fragrance,  1)1  ush  when  first  introduced  to  the 
morning  sunlight.  Moses  has  enriched  the  world 
with  a  history  of  the  Genesis  of  creation,  which  must 


28  (ILTMPSES    OF    GOD. 

ever  remain,  because  it  is  simple,  salutary  and  suffi- 
cient, the  most  fascinating  and  satisfying  interpreta- 
tion of  the  origin  of  Nature.  The  eye  of  Moses, 
quickened  and  illuminated  by  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty,  had  looked  upon  all  the  glorious  mani- 
festations of  the  divine  mind  that  had  ever  been 
granted  to  man.  His  ear  had  treasured  every  vibra- 
tion of  the  divine  voice,  which  had  ever  reached 
human  ears,  from  the  time  it  was  first  heard  when 
God  walked  in  the  garden,  in  the  cool  of  the  day, 
until  it  had  commanded  him  to  present  himself  on 
Mount  Sinai.  He  heard  the  first  question  addressed 
to  man,  which  fell  from  the  divine  lips,  and  the 
first  promise  of  the  Redeemer  of  the  race.  He  tm- 
derstood  God's  purpose  in  calling  Abraham,  to  raise 
a  peculiar  people,  for  Himself.  Already  God  had 
spoken  to  him,  face  to  face,  as  a  man  speaketh  unto 
his  friend.  He  had  seen  the  glory  of  Jehovah  as 
had  no  other.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  prophets 
and  the  first  inspired  revealer  of  divine  truth.  He 
was  God's  chosen  ambassador  to  Pharaoh,  the 
anointed  deliverer  of  His  chosen  people,  the  eman- 
cipator of  Israel.  He  was  not  only  elected  of  Heav- 
en to  be  a  leader  and  law-giver  to  the  people,  but  a 
personified  conscience  to  the  world.  No  one  had 
secured  a  clearer  conception  of  the  Creator's  pur- 
poses, or  given  such  a  sublime  expression  of  them 


THE    REQl^EST.  2() 

to  man.  Ilaviiii^  thus  been  so  gloriously  endowed 
with  privileges  and  erowncd  with  such  glorious 
glimpses  of  God,  is  it  any  wonder  that  he  should 
long  for  more,  and  cry  "  Show  me  Thy  glory?" 
Nay,  having  been  permitted  to  understand  so  well 
the  divine  secrets,  not  to  show  his  appreciation  by 
seeking  to  know  still  more,  would  be  tmnatural,  and 
unworthy.  The  practical  value,  for  himself  and 
people,  of  the  revelations  already  received  could  not 
but  force  a  rational  being  to  seek  a  greater  vision. 
Nevertheless,  to  know  precisely  what  Moses  desired, 
when  he  said  "  Show  me  Thy  glory, "  is  involved  in 
much  difficulty,  and  enveloped  in  much  mystery. 
It  is  much  easier  to  say  negatively  what  the  request 
does  not  mean,  than  to  state  positively  what  it  does 
mean.  It  could  not  be  a  prayer  for  a  sensuous  ex- 
hibition of  God's  majesty,  or  simply  a  desire  for  an 
external  display  of  divine  power  and  glory.  He  had 
seen  enough  of  such  manifestations.  It  could  not 
mean  that  he  expected  in  some  miraculous  way  to 
be  able  to  comprehend  Ciod.  He  was  too  wise  a 
man  and  knew  himself  and  Jehovah  too  well  to 
have  entertained  such  a  wild  desire.  Could  the 
greatest  historian,  if  not  the  only  historian  of  the 
world,  for  two  thousand  years,  a  man  intellectually 
and  spiritually  head  and  shoulders  above  the  rest  of 
mankind,  become  so  unreasonable  as  to  expect  that 


30  GTJMPPES    OF    GOD. 

the  finite  mind  could  comprehend  the  Infinite?  The 
character  of  Moses,  as  seen  in  the  light  of  history, 
demands  that  we  exonerate  him  from  the  charge  of 
making  so  irrational  a  request.  Still,  he  asked  to  see 
the  "  glory  "  of  God.  What  does  this  mean?  What- 
ever answer  we  make,  it  must  be  granted  that  he 
longed  for  a  revelation  not  already  received,  some 
vision  not  yet  secured.  Moreover,  it  must  be  con- 
ceded that  he  craved  a  higher  and  worthier  concep- 
tion of  God's  character,  a  clearer  understanding  of 
His  purposes,  and  a  nearer  approach  to  His  divine 
heart.  Indeed,  everything  in  the  history  of  the 
transfiguration  of  Moses  suggests  that  wliat  he 
really  wanted,  whether  he  was  conscious  of  it  or 
not,  was  a  manifestation  of  God's  spiritual  nature. 
But  just  what  the  "  glory  "  means  must  more  or 
less  be  a  matter  of  conjecture,  for  everything  be- 
longing to  God  is  full  of  His  glory. 

II.        THIS    REQUEST    IS    RELIGIOUS. 

It  is  simply  the  ambition  of  a  religious  man  to 
understand  more  of  the  mind,  and  to  get  nearer  the 
heart,  of  his  Father  in  Heaven.  It  is  a  pleading  of 
a  soul  enraptured  with  the  contemplation  of  the 
divine  character,  for  a  more  understanding  heart,  a 
broader  view,  a  keener  and  more  appreciative  in- 
sight, into  the  glorious  mysteries  and  perfections  of 


THE    R  KOI' EST 


31 


His  Ijcin^i^;.  Surely,  this  is  not  only  a  worthy,  but 
the  most  devout  ambition  possible  to  the  human 
soul.  To  seek  that  knowledge  of  the  Father  whieh 
deepens  our  own  spiritual  life,  and  fills  us  with  in- 
creased power  to  serve  others,  can  not  but  be  well 
pleasing  in  the  sight  of  Heaven.  The  spirituality 
of  the  soul  depends  oij  its  spiritual  yearnings,  and 
this  request  of  Closes  is  the  winged  desire  of  the 
soul  for  that  spiritual  insight,  without  which  deep 
religious  life  is  impossible.  When  the  soul  is  dis- 
satisfied with  its  spiritual  attainment,  and  yearns 
for  a  more  spiritual  conception  of  (lod,  it  is  nK^ved 
by  the  divinest  impulse.  ^lan  instinctively  seeks 
to  know  God.  The  more  he  knows  of  Him,  the 
more  will  he  desire  to  know,  and  the  more  he  de- 
sires to  know  the  more  he  will  know.  As  the  spir- 
itual life  deepens,  the  soul's  ambition  to  know  (lod 
is  intensified.  The  nearer  we  are  permitted  to 
draw  to  the  heart  of  Jehovah,  the  more  earnest  and 
sincere  the  cry  of  the  soul — "  Show  me  Thy  glory." 
To  understand  the  religious  character  of  this  desire 
of  Moses,  it  is  necessary  that  we  take  into  considera- 
tion the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  expressed. 
We  must  needs  look  upon  the  Man  of  (lOd,  bowed 
down  by  sorrow  and  filled  with  unutterable  grief 
because  of  the  idolatry  of  the  people  at  the  foot  of 
the  mount  made  holy  by  the  divine   presence.     We 


32  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

must  listen  to  his  intercession,  his  pathetic  plead- 
ing with  God  to  forgive  their  sin,  and  learn  to  ap- 
preciate the  promise  of  God's  continued  favor. 
Then,  and  then  only,  will  we  learn  what  moved 
Moses  to  cry,  "  Show  me  Thy  glory."  Plis  request 
had  a  practical  bearing  on  his  own  life  and  duty,  in 
that  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  people.  He  had  lost 
confidence  in  himself,  and  in  the  people,  and  was  in 
sore  need  of  every  help  to  increased  faith  in  Jeho- 
vah. His  faith  in  himself  was  shaken,  because  he 
liad  so  forgotten  himself  when  he  stood  face  to  face 
with  Israel's  sin.  The  most  patient  of  men  burned 
with  righteous  indignation  and  was  moved  in  wrath 
at  the  sight  of  the  golden  calf,  and  taking  vengeance 
into  his  own  hands,  with  the  aid  of  those  on  the 
Lord's  side,  he  slew  three  thousand  men,  as  if  love, 
— forgiving  love, — was  foreign  to  his  nature.  And 
yet  how  he  loved  these  people  !  No  human  love  was 
ever  deeper,  or  more  self-sacrificing.  Hear  him  as 
he  pleads  with  God  to  forgive  their  transgression,  or 
to  blot  his  name  out  of  the  Book  of  Life.  Could  any 
love  be  stronger?  Not  only  stronger  than  death, 
but  stronger  than  the  desire  for  immortality.  His 
prayer  was  heard,  his  petition  granted,  and  a  prom- 
ise given  of  Jehovah's  continued  presence  to  aid  the 
prophet  and  to  bless  the  people.  But  how  his  faith 
in  the  people  had  weakened!     How  could  he  ever 


THE    REQUEST.  T,^ 

again  have  conlidcnce  in  thcni?  Had  they  not,  near 
the  mount  made  terrible  by  the  presenee  of  Jeho- 
vali,  been  guilty  of  inexensable  idolatry?  He  de- 
spaired of  ever  aceomplisliing  the  work  laid  on  his 
heart  to  do — making  these  people  obedient  and 
faithful  to  the  God  of  Heaven.  From  himself,  his 
thoughts  would  turn  to  God.  How  great  was  His 
longsuffcring,  pity  and  patience,  and  how  ready  to 
forgive  was  the  Holy  One!  Who  could  understand 
this  mystery?  How  could  holiness  and  love  in  har- 
mony dwell  together  in  the  divine  heart  ?  God 
hated  sin  with  a  holy  hatred,  impossible  to  the 
human  heart.  How  could  He  then  forgive  their 
sin,  and  yet  remain  holy?  What  was  the  explana- 
tion of  this  righteous  love,  and  yet  loving  righteous- 
ness? Moved  to  the  depths  of  his  being  by  these 
conflicting  thouglits,  he  cries  ''I  beseech  Thee." 
How  pathetic,  reverential  and  devout!  His  whole 
heart  is  in  the  words,  as  if  his  life  depended  on  the 
answer.  "  I  beseech  Thee,  show  me  Thy  glory. " 
"He  had  secured  a  glimpse  of  God's  forgiving  love. 
AVas  it  any  wonder  tliat  he  should  desire  to  know 
more  of  the  pity,  patience,  and  peace  of  his  Father's 
heart  ?  Like  a  child  he  looks  up  to  his  Father's 
face,  and  asks  that  He  would  explain  to  him  the 
mystery  of  His  love.  He  wanted  a  glimpse  of  the 
essential  glory  of  (iod,  but  only  that  he  miglit  un- 


34  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

derstaiid  the  nature  of  His  purposes,  and  future 
dealings  witli  Israel.  He  was  anxious  to  learn  the 
lesson  God  was  so  anxious  to  teach  Elijah,  near  the 
same  spot.  He  longed  to  be  initiated  into  the  mys- 
teries of  divine  love,  as  manifested  in  God's  long 
suffering  and  patience  with  sinful  man.  It  was  a 
desire  to  see  the  best  in  God,  at  its  best;  to  behold 
the  glor}^  of  His  glory.  It  is  as  natural  to  find  fault 
with  the  rushing  river  for  seeking  the  sea,  the 
flower  for  being  fragrant  and  bending  toward  the 
sun,  or  a  child  for  seeking  the  mother's  embrace 
and  leaning,  when  sick  and  sad,  on  her  bosom  of 
love,  as  to  condemn  the  soul  for  exercising  its  most 
divine  function  when,  like  Moses,  it  cries  "  Show 
me  Thy  glory." 

III.        THIS    REQUEST    IS    ROYAL. 

What  jMoscs  desired  was  not  only  wise  and  good, 
but  the  best  of  which  his  best  nature  was  capable. 
Therefore  it  was  not  only  rational  and  religious, 
but  in  very  truth  royal.  It  did  not  spring  from 
mere  sentiment  or  selfish  impulse,  but  from  the 
sublime  and  sacred  yearnings  of  the  soul  to  approach 
its  ideal.  It  was  a  noble  ambition  of  a  noble  nature, 
finding  expression  in  a  most  spiritual  longing  for  a 
glimpse  of  God,  which  would  increase  its  spiritu- 
ality and  strengthen  it  for  self-sacrificing  service. 


THE    REQUEST.  35 

Moses  sought  to  secure  a  higher  revelation  of  God, 
that  he  might  be  the  better  prepared  to  serve  his 
generation.  He  longed  for  more  spiritual  insight 
into  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  vSuprcme,  that  his 
soul  might  be  made  more  sensitive  to  the  sense  of 
sin,  and  more  sympathetic  with  the  sinner.  His 
thought  was  not  of  himself,  but  of  (lod's  glory,  and 
the  good  of  God's  people.  He  would  approach 
nearer  tlic  Divine  in  spiritual  affinity,  that  he  might 
inspire  the  people  with  spiritual  aspiration.  His 
request  was  but  the  outpouring  of  a  spirit  moved  to 
its  depths  with  an  earnestness  that  was  terrible,  to 
secure  greater  inspiration  to  fulfill  its  mission.  It 
was  simply  the  most  spiritual  struggle  of  a  soul  in 
its  most  spiritual  season,  for  a  vision  of  God  that 
would  strengthen  it  to  secure  supremacy  over  all 
selfishness.  Moses  w^as  never  more  like  (lod  than 
when  he  sought  the  vision  that  would  make  him 
(xodlike.  He  reached  the  highest  altitude  hitherto 
attained  in  his  spiritual  experience,  when  he  uttered 
the  impassioned  appeal,  "  vShow  me  Thy  glory." 
As  he  surmised  it,  the  form  of  the  request  was  not 
spiritual,  but  the  spirit  it  breathed  was  akin  to 
divine.  If  the  form  was  faulty,  the  faith  and  fervor 
were  faultless.  If,  as  some  suggest,  he  even  ex- 
pected in  some  miraculous  manner  to  be  able  to  see 
the  divine  essence,  and  gaze  with  mortal  eye  upon 


36  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  personal  faee  of  Deity,  even  this  does  not  lessen 
the  .spirituality  of  the  prayer,  or  the  value  of  the 
spirit  that  prompted  it.  AVhat  soul  is  so  divine  as 
to  separate  everything  sensuous  from  its  spiritual 
search  and  service,  or  is  spiritual  enough  to  rightly 
interpret  its  spiritual  yearnings  ?  We  find  that 
Philip,  who  had  been  privileged  to  breathe  the 
spiritual  atmosphere  surrounding  the  Saviour,  who 
had  gazed  on  the  most  glorious  and  perfect  mani- 
festation of  God  possible,  who  had  heard  the  most 
spiritual  words  that  ever  fell  on  .human  ears,  and 
seen  the  most  spiritual  revelation  of  the  moral 
nature  of  the  Father  in  heaven,  rises  no  higher  than 
Moses  in  spiritual  sensitiveness  or  conception  of  the 
spiritual  God.  The  petition  "  Show  us  the  Father  " 
is  identical  with  the  royal  request  of  Moses,  "  vSliow 
me  Thy  glory. ' '  They  are  both  precisely  the  same, 
in  root  and  branch.  Philip  has  not  advanccdon 
Moses  in  spiritual  aspiration,  nor  is  he  superior  in 
spiritual  interpretation  of  his  soul's  need.  Indeed, 
after  sitting  at  the  Saviour's  feet  for  eighteen  cen- 
turies to  learn  of  Him  the  secret  of  spiritual  strength, 
men  have  scarcely  risen  to  a  higher  plane  of  spiritual 
sensibility,  and  are  but  little  less  trammeled  by  the 
htmian  tendencies  and  material  influences  to  which 
flesh  is  heir.  Man  is  strangely  human  in  his  divin- 
est  moods  and  most  spiritual  moments.      If  the  de- 


THE    REQUEST.  37 

sire  of  Moses  was  crude  in  its  manner  of  expression, 
it  is  perfect  in  its  Godward  movement.  This  desire 
of  Moses  is  one  of  God's  jewels,  reflecting  the  light 
of  Heaven  in  the  soul  it  adorns.  The  rough  setting 
of  this  diamond  divine,  all  will  note,  while  the  spir- 
itual eye  alone  will  appreciate  its  royal  radiance 
and  heavenly  hue.  It  is  a  glittering  gem  of  grace, 
a  jewel  of  the  royal  diadem.  It  is  a  flower  from 
the  Paradise  of  love,  blossoming  in  God's  garden  of 
the  soul,  and  reaching  out  in  fragrance  to  its  heav- 
enly home.  All  that  Moses  hitherto  had  seen  of 
God  had  been  manifested  in  sensuous  form  —  the 
cloudy  pillar,  the  burning  bush,  the  Shekinah  sym- 
bol, these  were  his  highest  opportunities  to  know 
the  spiritual  nature  of  God.  Who  can  rise  higher 
in  his  conception  than  his  knowledge  warrants  ? 
God  can  not  expect  a  man  to  be  greater  and  nobler 
than  the  revelation  he  has  received  enables  him  to 
be.  This  request  is  royal,  for  in  spiritual  sensitive- 
ness and  sagacity  it  falls  not  one  whit  below  the 
aggregate  value  of  the  glimpses  of  God  given  to 
Moses.  If  a  man  attain  to  the  full  moral  stature 
made  possible  by  his  privileges,  men  and  God  can 
not  but  be  satisfied  with  his  life.  The  current  of  the 
religious  life  of  Moses,  ever  full  and  strong,  never 
rose  higher  in  spiritual  tide  than  when  he  exclaimed 
"I  beseech  Thee,   show  me  Thy  glory."     It  had 


38  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

moved  in  a  majestic  'stream,  its  volume  gaining 
velocity  with  every  obstacle  it  surmounted,  until  it 
became  impatient  of  hindrances  and  limitations  and 
sought  the  ocean  of  the  Infinite.  If  we  would  esti- 
mate aright  the  character  of  Moses,  we  must  measure 
him,  not  by  what  succeeding  generations  have  at- 
tained, but  by  the  breadth  and  depth  of  his  life,  as 
compared  with  the  men  of  his  century.  To  know 
Moses,  we  must  measure  him  by  the  slaves  he  eman- 
cipated. Moreover,  when  we  remember  how  few 
have  risen  above  having  their  spiritual  services 
marred  by  the  material  and  physical  elements,  so 
much  objected  to  in  the  prayer  of  Moses,  we  can 
not  but  confess  that  his  request  was  royal,  in  spite 
of  the  crudity  of  its  form.  It  is  sadly  true  that  the 
majority  of  Christians  have  yet  to  learn  to  think  of 
the  spiritual  God,  and  worship  Him  in  a  purely  spir- 
itual way.  Men  look  for  their  glimpses  of  God 
almost  invariably  in  connection  with  churches  or 
creeds,  Bible  or  prayer  book.  While  these  are 
valuable  aids,  when  properly  used,  in  keeping  God 
before  the  mind  and  concentrating  the  mind  upon 
God,  yet  too  often  they  are  so  unworthily  and  un- 
spiritually  employed  as  to  successfully  hide  the  spir- 
itual God  from  our  vision.  How  few  there  are  in 
this  enlightened  age  and  privileged  century  that 
look  for  spiritual  vision  unaided  by  material  forms ! 


THE    REQUEST.  39 

We  clothe  our  most  spiritual  ideas  in  material  con- 
ceptions, oft  mistaking;  the  shadow  for  the  substance, 
the  form  for  the  life,  the  means  of  grace  for  grace 
itself,  and  the  things  that  tell  concerning  God  for 
the  essential  spiritual  glory  of  the  Eternal.  Many 
see  the  things  of  God  and  God  is  seen  in  many 
things.  But  oh  how  few  see  God — the  spiritual  Be- 
ing— apart  from  all  things.  God  grant  that  our 
souls  may  continually  cry,  "  Show  me  Thy  glory," 
until  we  have  seen  the  Father  in  Heaven,  as  re- 
vealed in  the  Son,  and  His  glory  has  passed  be- 
fore us. 


THE    RESPONSE. 

"And  he  said,  I  will  make  all  My  goodness  pass  before 
thee,  and  I  will  proclaim  the  name  of  the  Lord  before  thee ; 
and  will  be  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious,  and  will 
shew  mercy  on  whom  I  will  shew  merc3^  And  He  said,  Thou 
canst  not  see  My  face;  for  there  shall  no  man  see  Me,  and 
live.  And  the  Lord  said,  Behold,  there  is  a  place  by  Me,  and 
thou  shalt  stand  upon  a  rock:  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  while 
My  glory  passeth  by,  that  I  will  put  thee  in  a  clift  of  the  rock, 
and  will  cover  thee  with  My  hand  while  I  pass  by:  And  I  will 
take  away  Mine  hand,  and  thou  shalt  see  My  back  parts:  but 
My  face  shall  not  be  seen." — Exodis  33  :  ig-23. 

Such  is  God's  royal  response  to  the  royal  request, 
''  Show  me  Thy  o-lory. "  The  rational,  religious 
and  royal  request  of  Moses  is  representative  of  the 
earnest  desire  of  every  devout  soul  for  glimpses  of 
God.  The  response  of  Jehovah  is  typical  of  the 
gracious  manner  in  which  Tie  satisfies  every  sincere 
desire  to  see  His  glory.  The  response  sanctions, 
satisfies  and  sanctifies  the  request.  The  request  is 
the  condition  of  tlie  rcspouse,  and  tlic  response  is 
the  crown  of  the  recpiest.  The  ixMpicst  is  the  re- 
sponse, in  prophecy;  the  response  is  the  request  in 


42  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

realization.  Without  the  request,  the  response  could 
not  be;  with  the  request,  the  response  could  not  but 
be.  Every  God-given  desire  must  meet  with  God- 
given  gratification.  The  universal  craving  for 
knowledge  of  God  is  a  universal  testimony  that 
glimpses  of  God  are  possible.  A  natural  revelation 
is  a  promise  of  a  supernatural  revelation.  Every 
glimpse  of  God  secured  through  the  aid  of  natural 
faculties,  in  the  natural  realm,  is  a  prophecy  that 
glimpses  of  God  may  be  secured,  through  the  exer- 
cise of  spiritual  faculties,  in  the  spiritual  realm. 
So  that  the  intellectual  and  the  ethical  knowledge  of 
God  accessible  to  man  is  a  promise  that  spiritual 
knowledge  is  possible.  The  response  of  God  to 
Moses  is  a  promise,  pledge  and  proof  not  only  that 
glimpses  of  God  are  possible  and  probable  through 
supernatural  manifestation,  but  that  a  spiritual 
vision  of  the  spiritual  God  is  divinely  assured  to 
every  soul  spiritual  enough  to  seek  it.  It  thus  has 
a  two-fold  interest  and  value  to  all  who  are  anxious 
to  see  God's  glory.  It  is  valuable  as  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  manner  in  which  God  received  and  an- 
swered the  prayer  of  His  servant,  and  also  because 
it  reveals  the  gracious  attitude  He  always  maintains 
toward  the  seeking  soul.  It  is  of  priceless  value 
because  it  enables  us  to  see  the  precious  gems  of 
grace  with  which  God  adorns  the  soul  of  His  serv- 


THE    RESPONSE.  43 

ant,  but  its  value  is  enhanced  ten-fold  by  the  war- 
rant it  contains  to  make  its  treasures  our  own,  and 
the  promise  it  gives  of  the  invaluable  gifts  of  grace 
with  which  God  will  reward  every  honest  endeavor 
to  see  His  glory.  Surrounded  as  we  are  by  influ- 
ences other  than  divine,  hampered  and  hindered  by 
human  frailty,  discouraged  by  mysteries  which 
bafrte  our  ingenuity  to  elucidate,  oft  on  the  verge 
of  despair  because  of  repeated  failure  to  find  out 
God,  we  can  not  but  welcome  these  words  that  are 
like  stars  of  hope,  illuminating  the  night  of  spiritual 
ignorance.  What  man,  harassed  by  doubt  and  dis- 
appointed hopes,  tortured  by  the  sense  of  sin  and 
shame,  has  not  sought  to  find  rest  by  piercing  the 
heart  of  dark  doubt  and  standing  face  to  face  with 
the  Father,  who  knows  how  to  pity,  who  is  ever  pa- 
tient, who  is  willing  to  pardon,  and  who  is  able  to 
give  purity  and  peace  to  the  sotil  ?  Who,  having 
thus  felt,  will  not  appreciate  these  words  so  full  of 
heaven-born  light,  hope  and  love,  that  in  such 
simple  yet  sublime  manner  tell  how  every  sincere 
soul  may  find  and  nestle  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father 
in  Heaven  ?  This  response  ought  to  influence  and 
inspire  every  soul  to  increased  elfort  to  know  God. 
It  is  like  cold  water  to  the  thirsty  traveler  under 
the  scorching  sun  on  the  burning  desert  sands.  It 
is  to  the  soul    as  the   North   Star  to  the  sailor,  a 


44  CxLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

never-failing-  source  of  inspiration  and  ever-efficient 
guide  to  the  desired  haven.  It  contains  a  promise 
which  crystallizes  under  our  very  gaze  into  a  veri- 
table vision.  He  who  realizes  his  own  need  of  a 
nearer  approach  to  God,  in  order  to  qualify  him  for 
the  efficient  fulfillment  of  any  arduous  task,  will 
not  fail  to  appreciate  the  heaven-born  message 
which  this  response  contains,  and  the  inspiration  it 
breathes.  He  who  reverently  ponders  over  it  will 
never  fail,  however  distressed,  despondent  or  de- 
spairing, to  "  renew  his  strength  like  the  eagle  " 
and  to  soar  heavenward,  leaving  sorrow  like  clouds 
below  and  live  only  in  the  light  of  God's  love.  May 
our  eye  be  sensitive  to  the  spiritual  light,  our  ear 
appreciative  of  the  music  of  the  divine  voice,  and 
our  heart  responsive  to  the  life-giving  touch  of  holi- 
ness, as  we  draw  near  to  study  these  words  of  God, 
so  like  Him,  full  of  the  mystery  of  light,  life  and 
love,  grace  and  glory. 

The  text  naturally  falls  into  three  divisions.  The 
first  speaks  of  what  God  reserves  to  himself  ;  the 
second,  of  the  reason  for  this  divine  reservation, 
and  the  third,  of  what  He  is  ready  to  reveal  to  man. 
The  first  teaches  that  only  glimpses  of  God  are  pos- 
sible; the  second,  that  only  glimpses  of  God  are 
necessary,  and  the  third,  that  glimpses  of  God  are 
assured.     Thus  the  response  speaks  of 


THE    RESPONSE.  4c; 


RKSERVATION     IN     R  KVKI,  A'lloN. 


"  My  face  shall  not  be  seen."  Such  is  the  divine 
decree,  from  which  there  is  no  appeal.  It  expresses 
and  emphasizes  an  eternal  fact.  The  decree  speaks 
of  the  unveiled,  personal  face  of  Jehovah,  which 
Moses  probably  had  wrong-ly  surmised  to  be  the 
vision  which  his  soul  craved  when  he  exclaimed,  "  I 
beseech  Thee,  show  me  Thy  glory."  He  is  assured 
that  while  God  is  ready  to  vouchsafe  every  mani- 
festation necessary  to  qualify  him  for  the  highest 
service,  that  there  must  ever  remain  of  the  Divine 
an  unrealized  vision.  It  is  ever  thus.  A  divine 
reservation  is  imperative  to  every  divine  revelation. 
Ood  has  ever  to  hide  Himself  in  order  to  be  seen. 
Without  the  hand  that  covered  Moses  in  the  cleft  of 
the  rock,  and  hid  the  effulgent  light  of  the  divine 
countenance  from  the  gaze  of  his  mortal  eye,  the 
vision  granted  to  him  would  have  been  forever  im- 
possible. A  revelation  of  God  of  necessity  leaves  in 
reserve  more  than  it  reveals,  hides  more  than  it 
manifests,  and  discloses  only  as  it  is  successful  in 
hiding.  A  vision  is  that  which  succeeds  in  veiling- 
all  else,  that  it  might  itself  unveil.  It  is  a  natural 
law  that  the  greater  light  has  to  be  hid,  before  it  is 
possible  for  the  lesser  light  to  be  seen.  The  sun 
has  to  set  before  the  stars  are  seen.      The  inherent 


46  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

revealing  foree  of  every  object  is  commensurate 
with  its  power  all  else  to  hide.  Shade  as  well  as 
sunlight  is  indispensable  to  sight.  Excessive  light 
means  blindness.  Is  not  this  the  explanation  why 
God,  who  dwelleth  in  light  unapproachable,  clothes 
Himself  with  clouds  and  darkness?  How  sugges- 
tive that  He  who  is  Light  should  choose  so  often  to 
manifest  Himself  in  the  form  of  a  cloud,  (rod's 
choice  of  the  cloud  for  a  chariot  and  covering  is  not 
caprice,  but  it  is  selected  rather  as  a  medium  of 
communication  because  it  is  approved  of  divine 
wisdom.  It  was  in  a  cloud  He  appeared  on  the 
mercy  seat,  and  in  a  cloud  He  descended  on  Mount 
Sinai  to  speak  with  Moses.  The  cloud  was  not  only 
necessary  to  the  manifestation,  but  an  integral  part 
of  the  vision.  It  succeeded  in  manifesting  God  as 
it  was  successful  in  hiding  Him.  Even  dark  clouds 
become  transfigured,  transparent  and  translucent 
when  in  touch  with  God,  and  irradiated  with  light 
divine.  Let  no  one  complain  of  the  cloud  which 
contains  God,  or  fear  the  cloud  if  God  is  in  it.  The 
cloud  around  God,  like  the  shadow  of  the  sim, 
brings  life  and  light  into  the  world.  Light  apart 
from  darkness  equals  blindness;  light  in  darkness 
equals  vision.  Excessive  light  renders  vision  as 
impossible  as  does  excessive  darkness.  Unrestricted 
revelation     means    restrictecl    and    ruined    vision. 


THE    RESPONSE.  47 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  there  is  a  reservation  in 
every  divine  revchition,  and  a  revehition  in  every 
di\inc  rcserv^ation.  (lod  must  ever  reserve  nicjre 
than  He  reveals.  There  will  ever  be  mysteries  in 
the  Divine  which  the  human  can  never  hope  to 
solve,  and  depths  which  the  linitc  can  never  hope  to 
fathom.  The  Infinite  must  ever  be  mysterious. 
Were  (jod  less  divine  He  would  he  less  mysterious; 
but  were  He  less  mysterious  He  would  l)e  less 
divine.  To  eliminate  mystery  is  to  dim  the  light  of 
divinity.  The  finite  can  not  comprehend  the  In- 
finite, until  the  Infinite  become  finite.  Though  we 
know  all  possible  to  human  nature  of  the  Divine, 
we  must  ever  feel  that  we  possess  but  a  glimpse  of 
God,  and  the  nearer  we  approach  the  more  will  the 
full  vision  seem  to  evade  us.  Ever  on  and  on  will 
the  soul  be  impelled  by  lieaven-born  impulses,  at- 
tracted by  ineffable  Icn^e  and  inspired  by  irrepres- 
sible instincts  to  seek  to  "  know  the  Almighty  unto 
perfection,"  but  ever  conscious  that  the  distance 
traversed  through  countless  ages  is  Init  a  step  of  a 
journey  that  can  know  no  end.  What  mortal  eye 
can  scan  infinitude  ?  What  human  heart  can  ever 
hope  to  hold  the  ocean  of  divine  love?  What  plum- 
met can  sound  divine  depths?  He  who  knows  most 
of  God  will  realize  most  how  little  he  knows.  The 
less  we  think  we  know,  the  more  we  actually  know. 


48  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

and  the  more  we  know  the  more  will  we  strive  to 
know.  But  when  all  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
know  of  the  Father  in  Heaven  is  realized,  it  will  only 
be  a  glimpse  of  God.  Visions  of  inestimable  value 
have  been  vouchsafed  to  man  since  the  world  be- 
gan, but  were  they  all  gathered  together  and  con- 
centrated into  one  great  revelation,  though  it  con- 
tain everything  that  man  has  seen  or  felt  of  the 
Divine,  and  though  it  be  enriched  with  the  experi- 
ence of  the  myriad  mariners  who  have  sailed  on 
life's  ocean,  even  then  it  would  give  us  but  a  glimpse 
of  God.  The  Bible  contains  a  rich  galaxy  of  gath- 
ered glimpses  of  God.  It  tells  what  the  best  men 
at  their  best  have  seen  and  heard  of  the  Eternal. 
It  is  full  of  statements  which  show  how  men  have 
received  visions  of  the  Infinite,  and  crowded  with 
precious  promises  that  greater  visions  will  yet  be 
granted.  Men  have  prized  the  revelation  it  con- 
tains far  above  their  lives,  for  it  has  brought  the 
light  of  holiness  and  hope  of  Heaven,  into  the  home 
and  heart  of  humanity.  But,  after  all,  it  contciins 
but  a  glimpse  of  God's  glory.  Though  all  that  men 
have  gathered,  gleaned  and  garnered  from  Nature's 
garden  of  glimpses  of  God,  and  though  all  the 
knowledge  of  Him  ever  given  to  man  in  na.tural 
and  supernatural  manifestations,  as  expressed  in 
poetry,  science,  music,  philosophy  and  theology,  be 


THE    RESPONSE.  49 

brought  together  in  one  strong  ray  of  liglit  and 
focused  on  the  Being  of  God,  though  the  effect  be 
effulgent  and  blinding  bright,  it  will  give  only  a 
glimpse  of  Cjod.  Blend  together  the  revelation  of 
Nature  and  of  grace,  the  word  and  the  works  of 
God;  though  its  radiant  light  be  so  rich  and  royal 
that  angels  are  riveted  to  gaze  upon  it  with  eyes  of 
wondering  and  adoring  love,  yea,  though  man  is 
transfigured  by  its  glory  and  his  whole  being,  mate- 
rial, mental  and  moral  irradiated  by  its  light — after 
all  it  is  but  a  glimpse  of  God.  The  world  is  what 
it  is  to-day  in  mind,  morals,  manners,  and  motives, 
because  glimpses  of  God  have  been  sought  and  se- 
cured. Yet  our  knowledge  is  but  as  a  dewdrop  to 
the  mighty  ocean,  a  ray  of  light  to  the  meridian 
sun.  We  have  but  a  fragmentary  conception,  a 
partial  knowledge,  a  hurried  view,  a  faint  idea,  an 
inkling — in  a  word,  a  "  glimpse  "  of  God.  vStill  we 
thank  God  that  glimpses  are  possible,  yea,  and  that 
glimpses  only  are  possible.  For  eternity,  the  glory 
of  every  glimpse  will  be  a  glimpse  of  God's  glory, 
yet  the  best  of  glimpses  will  be  but  glimpses  at  tlie 
best. 

11.        REASON     FOR     RESER  V  A  T  K  )X. 

Thou  canst  not  see  My  face,  for  there  shall  no 
man  see  ^le  and  live."  The  motive  by  which  God 
is  ever  prompted  in  reservation  and  revelation  is 


50  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  happiness  and  the  moral  well-being  of  man. 
Love  is  the  royal  reason  for  all  He  reserves  and  all 
He  reveals.  He  reserves  and  reveals  that  man 
mig-ht  live.  He  ever  refuses  to  grant  every  request 
which  would  not  ensure  the  increased  influence  and 
happiness  of  the  soul  that  conceived  it.  As  God  is 
love,  and  some  human  desires  are  impolitic,  there- 
fore their  divine  satisfaction  is  impossible.  The 
soul  may  desire  that  which  is  rational,  religious  and 
royal,  but  may  express -its  desire,  and  request  satis- 
faction in  a  form  that  is  wanting  in  all  these  quali- 
ties. God  will  ever  satisfy  such  a  desire,  but  ever 
refuse  to  grant  such  a  request.  He  refused  to  grant 
the  request  of  Moses  in  the  form  in  which  it  was 
made,  while  He  full}^  satisfied  the  spirit  that  prompt- 
ed it.  Indeed,  He  could  have  satisfied  His  own 
heart,  and  the  heart  of  Moses,  in  no  other  way. 
The  reservation  in  the  revelation  God  made  to 
Moses  was  imperative  for  the  preservation  of  the 
life  of  His  servant.  Moses  could  not  see  the  face 
of  God  and  "  live,"  and  God  desires  to  preserve  and 
not  to  destroy  life.  He  has  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  sinner,  how  much  less  in  the  death  of 
the  saint.  Divine  wisdom  declares  reservation  in 
revelation  necessary ;  therefore  divine  love  has  made 
it  imperative.  What  God  reserved  from  Moses  He 
withheld,  not  because  the  revelation  thereof  would 


THE    RRSPONSE.  qi 

be  SO  majestically  terrible  as  to  iill  him  with  mortal 
dread,  but  because  the  hi<^hest  manifestation  of 
divine  love  in  unveiled  effuli^encc  would  so  over- 
whelm him  with  a  sense  of  his  own  un worthiness 
and  of  God's  g'lory,  as  to  slay  him  with  excessive 
lig-ht.  This  would  baffle  the  purposes  of  divine 
love,  and  the  end  the  prophet  was  so  anxious  to 
reach.  Therefore  (lod  said,  "  My  face  shall  not  be 
seen."  What  God  reserved  from  ]\Ioses,  He  has 
reserved  from  all  men.  "  No  man  hath  seen  the 
Father,"  and  no  man  ever  will,  save  in  the  Son. 
Were  it  otherwise,  man  w^ould  no  lon^^-er  be  human 
or  God  Divine,  for  to  see  the  personal  face  of  (iod 
w^ould  unman  man  and  undeify  Deity.  Moses,  like 
many  others,  knew  not  what  his  words  implied,  but 
was  deeply  conscious  of  a  cravin^^-  which  God  could 
only  satisfy,  and  which  could  be  satisfied  only  with 
(iod.  As  ever  God  interpreted  the  desire,  not  the 
expression  of  it,  and  answered  the  spirit  and  not  the 
words.  He  satisfied  the  soul  of  His  servant,  thou^^h 
He  reserved  to  Himself  what  Moses  thoui^iit  to  l)e 
necessary  to  his  well-being.  To  satisfy  the  desire 
it  was  imperative  to  deny  it,  in  the  form  in  which  it 
was  presented.  God  promised  to  give  to  Moses  not 
only  what  he  desired  but  much  more  than  he  under- 
stood to  be  his  need.  That  the  Father  in  Heaven 
should  deny  to  i\Ioses  the  inalienable  prerogative  of 


52  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

a  child  to  look  on  his  father's  face  seems,  on  the 
surface,  harsh  and  arbitrary.  But  "  there  is  recon- 
ciliation in  the  depths.  "  He  could  not  be  a  Father, 
and  act  otherwise.  The  reservation  is  the  result 
not  of  any  arbitrary  enactment  of  God's  sovereign- 
ty, but  the  unavoidable  restriction  of  love,  the  out- 
come of  His  Fatherhood.  If  God  revealed  to  man 
all  that  human  curiosity  craves  to  know,  man's  judg- 
ment would  be  dethroned,  his  will  paralyzed  and 
his  happiness,  yea,  and  life,  destroyed.  Man  often 
desires  to  know  what  he  is  unprepared  to  learn,  and 
seeks  knowledge,  the  possession  of  which  would 
prove  detrimental  to  his  highest  interests.  How 
prone  is  man  to  think,  in  his  mental  madness,  that 
mysteries  are  misery-makers.  He  fain  would  be- 
lieve that  the  panacea  for  all  his  woes  is  to  know 
all  that  he  desires  to  know,  while  in  fact  the  elucida- 
tion of  all  mystery  would  be  to  man  the  consumma- 
tion of  all  misery.  God  in  mercy  reserves  to  Him- 
self what  man  is  unprepared  to  know.  In  this,  as 
in  all  else,  human  capacity  alone  sets  the  limit  to 
divine  generosity. 

III.        REVELATION    IN    RESERVE. 

"  I  will  make  all  My  goodness  pass  before  thee.  .  .  I 
will  put  thee  in  a  clift  of  the  rock,  and  will  cover  thee  with 
My  hand,  while  I  pass  by.  And  I  will  take  away  My  hand, 
and  thou  shalt  see  My  back  parts. ' ' 


THE    RESPONSE. 


53 


In  these  words  God  promises  to  reward  the  spirit 
of  His  servant  with  the  highest  manifestation  pos- 
sible of  His  g-lory.  While  he  is  informed  that  there 
is  a  reservation  of  necessity  in  divine  revelation,  he 
is  assured  that  God  is  ready  to  grant  to  him  the 
greatest  revelation  that  it  is  possible  for  man  to  re- 
ceive. Thus  does  God  satisfy  and  sanctify  the  sin- 
cere search  of  the  soul  for  spiritual  sight.  Divine 
love  never  refuses  to  grant  any  request,  without 
making  ample  recompense.  God's  reason  for  re- 
serving to  Himself  that  which  would  hinder  and  not 
help  His  servant  in  the  attainment  of  holiness  and 
happiness,  lends  mercy  to  the  reservation  and  maj- 
esty to  the  revelation.  This  is  the  royal  response 
of  divine  love  to  the  request  of  Moses,  as  interpreted 
by  divine  wisdom.  The  revelation  promised  con- 
tains immeasurably  more  than  Closes  realized  to  be 
his  need,  (iod  will  vouchsafe  to  him  the  vision 
necessary  to  qualify  him  for  the  efficient  fulfillment 
of  his  great  mission,  and  will  reveal  as  much  of  His 
glory  as  mortal  eye  can  behold.  This  promised 
revelation  is  valuable  not  only  because  it  gives  us 
an  insight  into  (rod's  cliaractcr,  and  throws  light  (Ui 
the  conditions  of  spiritual  vision,  but  also  as  a 
prophecy  that  all  who  conform  to  tlic  laws  of  spir- 
itual investigati(Mi  will  be  rewarded  witli  glimpses 
of  God.      If  anv  douljt  existed  in  the  heart  of  Moses 


54  GLIMPSES    OF    GOT). 

concerning  the  reception  his  request  would  receive, 
it  must  have  been  forever  removed  by  the  royal  re- 
sponse which  promised  so  glorious  a  revelation.  It 
must  ever  be  interesting  and  instructive  to  all  who 
would  secure  visions  of  Cxod,  to  consider  the  way  in 
which  it  has  pleased  Him  to  reveal  Himself.  In- 
deed, this  is  of  supreme  importance,  for  man's  re- 
demption depends  upon  a  revelation  of  God.  Relig- 
ion without  revelation  is  impossible.  He  who  has 
not  learned  how  God  speaks  to  man  can  not  know, 
or  seek  to  know,  how  man  may  and  should  speak  to 
God.  Man's  conduct  is  governed  by  his  conception 
of  God.  He  becomes  perfect  as  he  perceives  per- 
fection in  the  Almighty.  Insight  into  the  divine 
character  alone  can  inspire  man  to  approach  the  di- 
vine ideal.  The  best  in  man  can  never  be  at  its  best 
until  it  has  realized  the  best  in  God  of  which  it  is 
capable.  Therefore  inquiry  into  God's  methods  of 
revealing  Himself  is  second  only  in  importance  to 
the  revelation  itself.  The  measure  of  our  interest 
in  every  special  manifestation  of  God  is  commen- 
surate with  the  depth  of  our  consciousness  of  our 
own  need  of  a  special  vision.  As  our  longing  for 
the  infinite  is  intensified,  our  interest  is  enhanced  in 
all  revelations  promised  and  realized.  This  vision 
of  God  promised  to  Moses  is  a  prophecy  of  the  reve- 
lation with  which  the  Father  in  Heaven  will  enrich 


THF,    RESPONSE.  55 

and  ennoble  the  sincere  search  of  every  soul  for 
glimpses  of  His  glory.  In  response  to  the  desire  of 
Moses  to  see  His  glory,  (iod  promises  that  all  His 
goodness  sliall  pass  before  him.  This  suggests  that 
His  glory  and  His  goodness  are  identical.  Even  to 
God  His  glory  is  His  moral  character.  The  glory 
of  His  glory  is  His  goodness.  As  the  Almighty 
conceives  it,  His  glory  consists  not  in  His  almighty 
power,  infinite  wisdom  or  eternal  existence,  but  in 
the  moral  qualities  of  His  personal  character,  — 
righteousness  and  love.  His  glory  does  not  depend 
on  those  perfections  which  are  necessary  to  His  be- 
ing. He  could  not  but  be  almighty,  all-wise  and 
eternal,  and  however  valuable  these  attributes  may 
be,  they  can  not  with  any  propriety  be  considered 
as  constituting  His  personal  and  peculiar  glory. 
Character  in  (lod,  as  in  man,  is  that  which  is  created 
of  choice,  and  not  of  compulsion.  That  whicli  is 
compulsory  ]:)ossesses  no  virtue,  though  in  itself  it 
contain  much  good.  The  good  that  one  chooses  is 
one's  crown,  (xod,  in  a  special  sense,  is  good  and 
gracious  because  He  chooses  so  to  be,  and  this  con- 
stitutes His  glory.  The  glory  of  Deity  is  His  per- 
sonal character,  and  the  glory  of  His  personal  char- 
acter is  goodness,  or  love,  (rod  always  emphasizes 
mercy  and  love  as  the  essence  and  crown  of  His 
divine  perfection,      lentil   man  has  had  a  glimpse  of 


56  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  love  of  God,  he  intuitively  feels  that  there  is  yet 
in  Him  a  glory  that  he  has  never  seen,  and  thoug-h 
glorious  visions  of  His  majesty  and  glory  be  ever 
granted  to  him,  the  spiritual  instinct  of  the  soul  will 
still  cry  out,  "  vShow  me  Thy  glory. "  Seeing  the 
spiritual  God,  the  Father,  alone  can  satisfy  the  spir- 
itual nature  of  man.  Moral  quality  alone  can  move 
and  mould  a  moral  agent.  Love  alone  can  irradiate 
a  being  with  its  own  light,  and  make  it  lovable. 
Goodness  alone  can  transform  and  make  men  good. 
The  vision  of  God's  love  alone  can  satisfy  the  love- 
hungry  soul.  Though  we  possess  all  knowledge  of 
the  majesty  of  God,  as  expressed  in  the  innumer- 
able worlds  around  us,  and  though  we  be  privileged 
to  receive  every  other  revelation  possible  of  the  Di- 
vine, save  the  vision  of  love,  the  hunger  of  our  soul 
will  be  unappeascd,  the  longing  of  our  heart  unsat- 
isfied, and  continually  we  will  cry,  "  vShow  me  Thy 
glory."  It  is  only  when  the  mind  has  grasped  the 
truth  that  (xod  is  love  and  when  the  heart  has 
learned  to  love  like  God,  that  the  soul  has  seen  the 
glory  of  God  and  is  satisfied.  God  promises  to  pro- 
claim His  name  before  Moses,  and  this  name  is  evi- 
dently an  integral  part  of  the  revelation.  Instinct- 
ively we  ask  what  the  name  of  God  has  to  do  with 
the  vision.  The  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  God's 
name  is  inseparably  connected  with   His  glory,  for 


THE    RESPONSE.  57 

it  Stands  for  His  moral  character.  The  Deity  has 
many  names.  They  are  all  holy  and  expressive  of 
certain  attributes  of  the  divine  character.  Tlie 
name  spoken  of  here  was  evidently  pronounced  for 
the  first  time,  in  the  hearing-  of  Moses,  or  it  could  not 
have  been  a  necessary  part  of  the  new  revelation. 
What  could  it  have  been,  but  the  name  that  identi- 
fies Cxod  with  the  work  of  salvation?  The  identical 
name  which  he  earned  for  himself  in  redeemin<^ 
man,  alone  would  harmonize  with  the  vision.  Man's 
salvation  is  said  to  be  ''  to  the  Lord  for  a  name." 
AVhat  name  worthy  or  more  effectual  in  assisting 
Closes  to  understand  the  mysteries  of  divine  love  than 
the  name  so  full  of  love,  "  the  Lord,  long  suffering 
and  gracious,  plenteous  in  mercy  and  truth?"  (xod 
is  very  jealous  of  this  name,  and  He  esteems  it  above 
every  other.  He  pardons  iniquity  "  for  His  name's 
sake,"  and  one  of  the  strongest  pleas  that  man  can 
make  for  mercy  is  ''  for  Thy  name's  sake,  pardon  my 
iniquity."  This  name  is  spelled  only  in  letters  of 
love,  and  can  be  known  and  appreciated  only  as  it 
is  expressed  in  the  work  of  salvation.  Is  not  tliis 
the  reason  wh}'  God  says,  in  introducing  His  name, 
"  and  will  be  gracious  to  whom  I  will  be  gracious?" 
The  name  bcconics  of  practical  value  when  tlie  ([ual- 
ities  it  rc])rcscnts  arc  manifested  in  deeds  of  mercy. 
A  name  is  always  valual)le  as  it  is  appropriate,  and 


58  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

appropriate  only  as  it  helps  to  distinguish  the  qual- 
ity for  which  it  stands,  from  all  else.  The  good- 
ness of  God  expresses  His  name,  and  ?Iis  name  in- 
dicates His  goodness.  Every  vision  is  valuable, 
not  to  the  extent  of  the  inherent  glory  it  contains, 
■  but  in  proportion  to  its  power  of  making  that  glor}' 
transferable  to  man.  A  vision  is  great,  only  as  the 
soul  is  enabled  to  appreciate  the  glory  it  unveils. 
The  love  of  God  is  as  clearly  seen  in  all  the  attend- 
ing circumstances  pertaining  to  the  revelation  prom- 
ised to  Moses,  as  in  the  act  of  granting  the  revela- 
tion itself.  A  vision  is  valuable  only  as  we  are  in 
a  position  to  perceive  its  glor}^  This  is  true  of  all 
visions.  Without  an  attainable  vantage  ground,  the 
most  beautiful  landscape  would  to  us  have  no  inter- 
est or  charm.  Until  we  stand  in  a  favorable  posi- 
tion, the  most  lifelike  painting  would  have  no  beauty. 
It  was  thus  with  Moses.  Without  the  cleft  of  the 
rock,  and  the  covering  hand  of  God,  the  vision, 
though  in  itself  of  inestimable  value,  would  have  had 
no  practical  influence  on  the  soul.  God,  however, 
in  mercy  always  provides  these  requisites  of  a  right 
relationship  to  the  revelation  received.  The  cleft 
of  the  rock  is  always  necessary,  and  ever  within 
reach.  The  shadow  of  His  hand  is  imperative  to 
every  vision,  and  it  is  ever  read}^  to  cover  and  to 
keep  in   safety  the  soul,  when   His  goodness  passes 


THE    RESPONSE.  59 

before  it.  With  what  a  sense  of  security  and  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  Father  in  Heaven,  God's  hand 
filled  the  heart  of  Moses!  It  is  ever  thus.  What 
hand  so  strono-  and  tender,  so  fatherly,  as  the  hand 
of  God?  Blessed  is  he  whose  habitation  is  under 
the  shadow  of  the  hand  of  the  Almig-hty.  When 
the  soul  has  been  made  strong  enough^  through  the 
nourishing  care  and  protecting  hand  of  (iod,  to  live 
in  the  light  of  His  presence,  the  shadow  of  His  hand 
will  be  removed,  and  His  love  in  undimmed  glory 
shall  be  seen.  The  cleft  of  the  rock  and  the  hiding- 
hand  are  both  necessar}'  conditions  of  revelation. 
The  cleft  of  the  rock,  while  closing  from  his  view 
everything  on  the  right  and  the  left,  focused  his  eye 
on  God  as  He  passed  before  him.  It  was  necessar v 
not  only  that  Nature  should  disappear  from  the 
vision  before  the  personal  Ciod  would  btx:ome  vis- 
ible, but  that  Nature  should  turn  all  her  lights  to 
reflect  on  the  passing  glory.  The  soul  that  would 
see  the  spiritual  God  must  become  conscious  only 
of  that  which  is  spiritual.  The  cleft  of  the  rock  can 
not  but  suggest  the  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  on  Calvary, 
in  which  all  sinners  may  hide,  and  may  in  safety 
gaze  upon  God's  glor3\  In  the  cleft  of  the  Rock  of 
Ages,  the  particular  vision  given  to  ]Moses  is  made 
possible  to  all,  and  all  that  hide  theivin  are  privi- 
leged  to   behold,  not    the    passing   but    the    abiding 


6o  GLTMPSE?    OF    GOD. 

glory  of  God.  The  climax  of  God's  promise  to 
Moses,'  the  kernel  of  the  response  and  the  soul  of 
the  revelation,  is  that  Moses  would  be  privileged  to 
see  God's  ''back  parts."  These  words  may  be 
translated,  "  Thou  shalt  see  Me  as  revealed  in  the 
latter  days. ' '  What  can  this  mean,  save  that  God 
was  about  to  reveal  Himself  to  Moses,  as  He  would 
be  seen  in  Emmanuel  redeeming-  the  world.  No 
interpretation  is  more  natural  to  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  narrative.  God's  love  could  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  less ;  the  soul  of  Moses  could  desire  nothing 
more.  This  we  believe  to  be  the  revelation  which 
God  informed  Moses  He  held  in  reserve  for  him — 
the  highest  manifestation  possible  to  mortal  eye 
of  the  spiritual  God,  as  seen  in  Christ,  the  Re- 
deemer. Moses  is  about  to  see  "  the  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,"  to  taste  of  the 
joy  of  salvation,  and  to  look  upon  '' the  glor}^  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 


THE    REALIZATION. 

"  Be  ready  in  the  morning,  and  come  up  in  the  morning 
unto  Mount  Sinai,  and  present  thyself  there  to  Me  in  the  top 
of  the  mount.  And  no  man  shall  come  up  with  thee,  neither 
let  any  man  be  seen  throughout  all  the  mount :  neither  let  the 
flocks  nor  herds  feed  before  that  mount.  And  he  hewed  two 
tables  of  stone  like  unto  the  first;  and  Moses  rose  up  early  in 
the  morning,  and  went  up  unto  Mount  Sinai,  as  the  Lord  had 
commanded  him,  and  took  in  his  hand  the  two  tables  of  stone. 
And  the  Lord  descended  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him 
there  and  proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord 
passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed.  The  Lord,  the  Lord 
God,  merciful  and  gracious,  longsuffering,  and  abundant  in 
goodness  and  truth,  Keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving 
iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means 
clear  the  guilty;  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children,  and  upon  the  children's  children,  unto  the  third  and 
to  the  fourth  generation." — Exodus  34:  2-7. 

Thus  are  glimpses  of  God  realized  and  sueh  are 
the  realized  g-limpses  of  God.  Stich  is  the  vision  of 
the  spiritual  God,  and  such  is  the  God  of  the  spir- 
itual vision.  In  these  words  we  are  permitted  to 
draw  near  the  heart  of  Jehovah,  to  enter  into  the 


62  GLIMPSES    OK    r,OD. 

Holy  of  Holies  of  His  character,  and  to  gaze  upon 
His  glory.  All  who  would  appreciate  the  revelation 
of  God  made  to  Moses,  and  make  the  vision  their 
own,  must  ascend  the  mount  made  holy  by  the 
divine  presence,  with  reverential  awe,  and  seek  to 
enter  the  sacred  solitude  and  silence  of  Sinai,  not  in 
a  sensuous,  selfish  or  sentimental  spirit,  but  in 
sanctity  of  soul  and  with  a  spirit  sensitive  to  things 
spiritual.  To  behold  the  glory  of  God  we  must 
needs  stand  with  Moses  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock,  hav- 
ing fulfilled  the  conditions  of  spiritual  sight,  and 
with  sanguine  spirit  await  the  realization  of  the 
promised  vision.  Our  souls  must  burn  within  us  with 
godly  enthusiasm,  and  our  hearts  be  so  filled  with 
spiritual  yearning  that  we  will  hail  the  vision  with 
holy  love.  These  words  emphasize  the  co-operation 
necessary  between  the  human  and  the  Divine,  to 
make  possible  the  realization  of  divine  revelation. 
They  enumerate  the  conditions  imperative  to  spir- 
itual vision.  They  teach  us  three  things  concerning 
the  realization  of  glimpses  of  God.  First,  the  char- 
acter of  the  recipient ;  second,  the  conditions  of  the 
reception ;  third,  the  nature  of  the  received  glimpses. 
Thus,  in  the  light  of  Heaven,  they  reveal  to  us: 

I.        THE    RECIPIENT. 

The  spirit  of  Moses  is  representative  of  the  spirit 


THE    RE.\T.IZATir)N.  6;^ 

which  is  iinpcnitivc  to  spiritual  siglit.  lie  was 
privileged  to  sec  God  only  as  it  is  possible  for  all 
men  to  see  Him.  God  is  ever  the  same,  and  His 
relation  the  same  to  all  who  diligently  seek  Him. 
While  glimpses  of  God  are  possible  to  all,  they  are 
possible  only  under  certain  unchanging  conditions. 
A  certain  spirit  and  attitude  of  soul  are  imperative 
to  spiritual  vision.  The  qualification  of  Moses  to 
receive  glimpses  of  (lod  was  amply  tested  by  the 
conditions  imposed  upon  him,  and  in  the  fulfillment 
of  the  divine  requirements  his  soul  was  fully  pre- 
pared to  receive  the  revelation  of  God.  He  pos- 
sessed the  spirit  without  which  it  is  impossible  to 
see  God,  and  in  the  possession  of  which  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  see  God.  Thus,  indirectly,  the  text 
emphasizes  the  conditions  of  spiritual  sight. 
The  first  condition  of  spiritual  sight  is — 
{(i)  Siiico'tty.  No  one  will  fail  to  note  the  sin- 
cerity of  spirit  which  Moses  manifested  in  every  stage 
of  his  search  for  the  spiritual  (lod.  Sincerity  marks 
his  every  step  and  characterizes  his  every  effort. 
Sincerity  blossoms  in  every  desire  and  ripens  in 
every  deed.  Sincerity  was  the  secret  of  his  search  and 
the  secret  of  his  success.  It  was  because  he  was 
sincere  that  he  sought,  and  secured,  this  supreme 
vision.  His  whole  soul  was  in  the  search,  for  it  was 
the  search  of  his  soul.     This  is  sincerity.      He  lived 


64  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

only  to  see  God,  and  saw  God  only  to  live  like  God. 
No  one  will  succeed  in  seeing-  God  in  any  other  way. 
The  mind  that  is  not  honest,  the  spirit  that  is  not 
upright,  and  the  soul  that  is  not  sincere,  can  not 
possibly  see  the  spiritual  God.  Unless  we  possess 
a  pure  heart  and  a  pure  life  and  are  in  truth  what 
we  appear  to  be,  pure,  real,  true — in  a  word,  sin- 
cere— we  can  not  hope  to  secure  glimpses  of  God. 
This  is  as  wise  as  it  is  good.  The  insincere  soul  is 
incapable  of  appreciating  spiritual  things;  it  only 
trifles  with  truth.  He  that  is  insincere  is  unfaith- 
ful to  the  light  he  already  possesses,  the  truth  al- 
ready revealed,  and  thus  is  unqualified  to  appreciate 
the  visions  of  God  and  glimpses  of  His  glory. 
Divine  revelation  can  only  be  made  as  the  human 
is  prepared  to  receive  it.  God  can  not  malce  Him- 
self known,  save  to  the  soul  that  with  sincerity  seeks 
a  worthier  conception  of  Him.  Glimpses  of  God, 
like  all  gifts  of  grace,  are  denied  only  to  those  who 
are  destitute  of  the  power  to  utilize  them.  Sincer- 
ity is  the  first  fruit  of  faith,  and  the  first  and  final 
condition  of  fellowship.  Sincerity  is  alone  the  soil 
which  can  nourish  worthy  aspiration  after  God. 
Spiritual  aspiration  is  but  the  sincere  search  of  the 
soul  for  a  more  perfect  knowledge,  a  closer  com- 
munion and  a  greater  affinity  of  spirit  with  the 
Divine.     The  soul  that  would  see  the  Supreme  must 


THK     KEALIZAIIUN.  6  c; 

seek  to  do  so  with  a  sin^^le  eye.  As  the  marksman 
closes  one  eye  in  order  to  concentrate  the  i;'aze  of 
the  otlier,  tlie  better  to  take  aim,  and  the  astronomer 
looks  with  single  eye  through  the  lenses  of  the  tele- 
scope, so  must  he  who  would  look  far  and  well  into 
the  hidden  things  of  God,  to  behold  His  eternal 
glory.  The  sincere  soul  alone  will  succeed  in  se- 
curing glimpses  of  Ciod. 

The  second  condition  of  spiritual  sight  is — 
{/})  Spirituality.  This  means  sympathy  of  soul 
with  God  and  things  spiritual.  There  must  be  affin- 
ity between  percciver  and  perceived  in  all  worlds. 
Like  alone  can  kncnv  like.  Spiritual  things  are  spir- 
itually seen.  "  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  wor- 
ship Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
"  Blessed  arc  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see 
God."  Without  holiness  no  one  can  see  Him  wlio 
is  Holy.  Purity  of  heart  or  spirituality  of  mind  is 
not  only  a  condition  but  a  qualification  without 
which  spiritual  sight  is  impossible.  The  soul  must 
exercise  its  spiritual  function,  before  we  can  appre- 
ciate spiritual  things  or  see  the  spiritual  (lod.  This 
is  no  arbitrary  arrangement  but  the  imperative  law 
of  divine  love.  The  spiritual  man  alone  can  discern 
spiritual  things.  He  who  is  not  spiritually  minded, 
though  he  be  an  intellectual  genius,  will  utterly  fail 
to  understand  spiritual  things,  because  totally  desti- 


(^€  GLIT^IPSES    OF    GOD. 

Uite  of  the  necessary  qualification  to  receiv^e  them. 
Glimpses  of  God  are  given  only  to  the  Godlike.  He 
who  would  succeed  in  making  special  discoveries  in 
the  spiritual  world  must  ever  conform  to  this  essen- 
tial condition  of  spiritual  sight.  We  would  not  un- 
derestimate mental  endowments  or  overestimate, 
were  that  possible,  spiritual  faculties.  Deep  spir- 
itual natures  alone  can  rise  to  a  worthy  conception 
of  the  "  high  and  lofty  One  who  inhabiteth  Eter- 
nity." Nevertheless,  the  man  whose  mental  nature 
is  highly  developed  and  mind  well  equipped,  if  spir- 
itual, will  understand  more  of  God,  get  into  closer 
touch  with  the  Divine,  be  of  greater  service  to 
humanity  than  is  possible  to  an  unlettered  man, 
though  possessing  an  equally  devout  and  spiritual 
soul.  He  will  secure  greater  glimpses  of  God  and 
reveal  more  of  God  to  his  fellows,  than  is  possible 
to  the  man  who  is  his  inferior  intellectually.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  who  can  not  write  his  name,  but 
has  been  born  of  the  spirit  of  God,  and  is  in  sym- 
pathy, through  love,  with  the  purposes  of  His  holy 
heart,  will  learn  more  of  the  secrets  of  divine  love^ 
receive  and  reproduce  greater  glimpses  of  God,  than 
can  the  most  learned  philosopher  destitute  of  spir- 
itual affinity.  How  natural  is  this  divine  arrange- 
ment, and  how  merciful  and  good  it  shows  God  to 
be !     Glimpses  of  God  are  possible  to  all,  hence  all 


THE    REALTZATION.  67 

may  excel  in  Godliness.  The  illiterate  may  be  illu- 
minated with  the  li^ht  divine,  and  become  the  most 
illustrious  sons  of  God.  The  same  law  is  reiterated 
in  the  world  of  Nature.  The  man  that  is  in  sym- 
pathy with  Nature  alone  will  succeed  in  learninL^- 
her  secrets.  He  that  loves,  alone  can  woo  Nature 
until  she  loves  and  confesses  in  sweet  confidence 
her  affection.  He  must  approach  her  clothed  with 
the  irresistible  t^race  and  charm  of  love  before  she 
will  unseal  her  lips  to  speak  the  secrets  of  her 
happy  heart.  Nature  has  but  one  imperative  de- 
mand of  all  her  children — love.  The  poet  may  be 
ii^-norant  of  science  and  yet  be  admitted  without 
question  into  the  holy  of  holies  of  Nature's  heart. 
If  he  possesses  the  true  poetic  instinct,  he  will 
never  fail  to  charm  the  world  with  his  interpreta- 
tion of  Nature.  He  will  look  on  the  beautiful  lily 
and  catch  a  q^limpse  of  the  God  who  made  it.  As 
he  gazes  on  the  sun,  he  will  see  the  vigil  eye  of 
ricxl.  The  true  poet  and  the  true  painter,  like  the 
true  Christian,  will  everywhere  see  God,  and  every- 
where assist  men  to  behold  His  glory.  The  artist 
alone  can  appreciate  and  interpret  art  ;  the  poet 
alone  can  appreciate  and  interpret  poetry,  and  the 
Godlike  alone  can  see  (xod.  The  spiritually  minded 
will  secure  most,  appreciate  most,  manifest  most, 
glimpses  of  (jod.      It   is   noteworthy  that  by  far  the 


68  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

greatest  discoveries  in  all  worlds  have  been  made  by 
men  great  in  heart,  rather  than  head  power.  God 
is  love.  In  love  has  He  done  all  things,  and  love 
only  can  understand  and  appreciate  love.  Love 
only  can  see  love,  and  love  sees  love  only.  Who 
but  a  friend  can  a  friend  fathom  ?  None  but  the 
spiritual  can  see  the  spiritual  God. 

The  third  condition  of  spiritual  sight  is  — 
(c)  Sci'vicc.  The  last  and  most  imperative  quali- 
fication to  secure  glimpses  of  God  is  that  condition 
of  soul,  that  activity  of  spirit  and  sacrificing  love 
which  we  designate  service.  It  includes  sincerity, 
spirituality  and  self-surrender.  The  first  stands 
for  spiritual  ambition,  the  second  for  spiritual  affin- 
ity and  the  third  for  spiritual  assimilation.  These 
three  conditions  of  spiritual  sight  represent  the 
Christian  graces.  The  first  is  hope,  the  second 
faith,  and  the  third  love,  "  and  the  greatest  of  these 
is  love."  Blended  together,  they  constitute  the 
essence  of  spiritual  life,  which  is  but  another  name 
for  love  in  service  and  the  service  of  love.  This 
word  stands  for  everything  that  is  essential  to 
secure  glimpses  of  God.  He  who  loves  to  serve 
God  will  learn  of  God  how  best  to  serve  Him. 
Knowledge  of  God  is  the  best  preparation  for  serv- 
ice. The  one  Biblical  word  which  includes  every- 
thing essential  to  eternal  life  is  Love,  and  love  is 


THE    REATJZATI(~)N.  69 

but  soul  in  service.  The  words,  "  If  any  man  will 
do  His  will,  he  shall  know  the  doctrine,"  teach  us 
that  obedience  is  an  imperative  condition  of  spir- 
itual sii^iit.  Indeed,  it  is  the  most  im])ortant  of  all 
conditions',  for  without  obedience  to  the  truth 
already  revealed,  man  is  not  prepared  to  receive  a 
revelation  of  a  greater  truth.  He  only  successfully 
studies  Nature  who  is  in  sympathy  with  her  spirit 
and  in  loving  obedience  conforms  to  her  ways.  He 
that  would  secure  glimpses  of  God  must  appreciate 
those  already  received  by  reproducing  them  in  his 
life.  This  is  obedience,  for  what  is  obedience  but 
sympathetic  and  sacrificing  service  ?  No  one  can 
serve  God  unless  he  loves  Him.  No  one  loves  God 
unless  he  serves  Him,  and  no  one  loves  and  serves 
without  being  constantly  made  more  like  unto  (xod. 
Through  service  alone  are  we  qualified  for  higher 
service.  He  that  would  know  God  must  love  Him, 
for  God  is  love.  Higher  knowledge  of  God  must  be 
sought  through  increased  sympathy  expressed  in 
more  faithful,  loving  and  efficient  service.  There 
is  only  one  royal  road  to  the  holy  of  holies  of  (iod's 
heart,  and  that  is  the  way  the  Saviour  went, — obedi- 
ence, expressed  in  self-sacrificing  service.  He  that 
would  know  (lod  must  learn  to  look  with  the  eye  of 
God,  think  with  the  mind  of  G(xl,  act  with  the  will 
of  God,  judge  with  the  conscience  of  God,  and  love 


70  (ILTMPSES    OF    GOD. 

with  the  heart  of  God.  In  a  word  he  must  co- 
work  with  God.  The  best  way  to  know  God  is  to 
serve  Him.  Had  not  Moses  been  faithful  in  the 
fnlfillment  of  the  task  allotted  to  him,  had  he  not 
shown  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  made  serv- 
ing God  the  great  sacred  aim  of  his  life,  he  would 
never  have  been  qualified  to  receive  this  vision 
of  God.  Moreover,  had  he  sought  it  from  any 
other  motive  or  for  any  other  purpose  save  to 
qualify  him  for  more  efficient  service,  it  would 
never  have  been  granted  unto  him.  God  reveals 
Himself  that  man  might  the  better  serve  humanity 
and  Heaven.  God  never  honors  selfishness  with 
spiritual  sight.  vSelfishness,  like  sensuality,  blinds 
the  spiritual  eye  and  closes  the  heart  of  God  like  a 
sealed  book.  He  that  would  know  God  must  seek 
to  know  Him  not  from  any  idle  curiosity  or  simply 
for  personal  satisfaction,  but  because  the  knowledge 
is  imperative  to  enable  him  as  a  man  to  do  his  duty. 
He  that  would  secure  glimpses  of  God  must  seek 
them  not  only  from  the  right  motive,  but  in  the  right 
manner.  The  spirit  must  be  humble,  lowly,  teach- 
able. Without  humility  no  one  can  approach  Him 
who  is  Holy.  God  can  not  reveal  Himself  to  the 
man  who  has  no  eye  to  see  or  heart  to  feel  anything 
but  self.  He  that  is  filled  with  thoughts  concerning 
himself  has  no  room  for  God  in  his  soul.      Haughti- 


THE    REATJ;^ATION.  J  I 

ness  and  holiness  can  not  hope  to  dwell  together  in 
harmony.  The  Saviour  emphasized  the  importance 
of  possessing-  the  childlike  spirit,  the  teachable  dis- 
position, if  we  would  become  (rodlike.  Moses  pos- 
sessed pre-eminently  these  essential  qualifications 
for  spiritual  vision.  His  sincerity,  spirituality  and 
service  made  him  honored  of  men  and  beloved  of 
God.  This  is  the  reason  why  he  was  rewarded  witli 
this  special  vision  and  glorified  with  this  glimpse  of 
God.  This  is  the  explanation  why  God  spake  to 
Moses  "  as  a  man  speaketh  with  his  friend."  He 
was  humble  of  heart,  appreciative  of  spirit  and  faith- 
ful in  service.  His  heart  was  united  with  the  heart  of 
God  in  the  bonds  of  love,  and  his  spirit,  ever  strong 
in  sympathy  with  the  Supreme,  was  strengthened 
through  service.  All  who  would  secure  the  glimp- 
ses of  God  with  which  the  life  of  Closes  was  enriched 
and  ennobled  must  seek  them  with  similar  spirit, 
along  the  straight  road  of  sincerity,  the  upward 
path  of  spirituality,  and  rough  road  of  self-sacrihc- 
ing  service. 

II.        THE    RECEPTION. 

The  words  of  tlic  text  inform  us  not  only  of  tlie 
spirit  necessary  to  receive  glimpses  of  God,  but  of 
the  manner  in  which  gbmpses  are  received.  Tliey 
give   in   detail   the   conditions   of   time  and  place  in 


7^  GLIMPSES   OP    GOD. 

which  Moses  received  this  vision.  It  is  of  great 
importance  not  only  to  know  who  may  receive 
glimpses  of  God,  but  how,  when,  and  where,  it  is  pos- 
sible to  receive  them.  Manifold  are  the  environ- 
ments and  many  the  seasons  in  which  men  have 
been  permitted  to  see  the  glory  of  God.  It  is  sug- 
gestive that  the  three  greatest  visions  granted  to 
Moses  were  given  on  the  mount — one  before  he  com- 
menced his  life  work,  to  call  and  consecrate  him 
for  service;  the  second  in  the  midst  of  life's  duties, 
to  encourage  and  to  strengthen  him  in  the  fulfill- 
ment thereof;  the  last  at  the  close  'of  his  mem- 
orable and  majestic  career,  a  reward  and  crown  for 
faithfulness  and  a  preparation  for  Heaven.  There 
are  but  few  places  in  which  we  would  more  natu- 
rally expect  visions  than  on  a  mount, — Nature's  near- 
est physical  proximity  to  Heaven.  The  mount  is 
the  sanctuary  of  seclusion  and  solitude,  the  throne 
of  Nature,  before  which  the  earth  doth  homage. 
All  the  world  looks  up  to  it  with  adoring  eyes,  and 
every  star  in  Heaven  seems  to  center  its  gaze  upon 
it.  Its  foundation  is  the  rock,  and  its  canopy  the 
star-studded  sky.  The  mount  represents  every- 
thing that  is  majestic,  lofty  and  transcendent  in 
Nature.  It  lives  above  the  clouds  and  the  petty  dis- 
sensions and  strifes  of  meaner  elements,  drinking 
in  the  light  that  floods  the  sky,  and  lifts  up  its  head 


THE    REALIZATION.  73 

as  if  its  royal  ambition  was  to  touch  Heaven.  It  is 
the  home  of  freedom,  untranimeled  by  the  conven- 
tionalities of  life's  commonplace  conditions.  From 
its  summit  the  widest  outlook  of  earth  and  Heaven 
is  possible,  and  there  the  soul  can  in  sacred  solitude 
and  silence  scan  sublime  space,  and  soar  past  stars 
and  suns  to  the  sanctuary  of  spirit  where  the  spir- 
itual God  is  seen  and  served.  We  are  not  surprised 
that  Jesus  was  so  wont  to  retire  to  the  mount  to 
pray.  What  place  so  conducive  to  contemplative 
thought  and  communion.  He  that  is  not  filled  with 
a  reverential  spirit  on  a  mount,  would  not  worshi]^ 
in  Heaven.  Moses  was  transfigured  on  a  mount ; 
Elijah  learned  his  greatest  lesson  of  God  on  a 
mount;  Jesus  was  transfigured  on  a  mount.  He 
who  is  anxious  to  secure  a  glimpse  of  God  will  do 
well  to  seek  it  on  a  mount — alone  with  God.  That 
God  chose  the  mount  as  the  place  in  which  to  reveal 
Himself  to  Moses  is  significant  and  suggestive.  He 
has  a  reason  for  all  the  selections  He  makes,  whether 
of  spirit,  seasons  or  scenes,  and  the  greatest  reason 
is  superior  adaptability.  He  specifies  to  Closes  tlie 
time,  the  place,  and  all  the  necessary  preparation  ;  he 
is  to  l)e  ready  in  the  morning  and  to  present  him- 
self on  Mount  Sinai.  No  man  is  to  go  with  him, 
neither  is  any  man  to  be  seen  throughout  all  the 
mount,  nor  the  flocks  nor  herds  to  feed  before  it. 


74  OLTMPSES    OF    (ion. 

Moses  had  to  ascend  toward  Heaven  to  meet  God, 
and  God  descended  toward  earth  to  meet  Moses. 
The  glory  of  man  is  that  he  can  go  up ;  the  glory  of 
God  is  that  He  can  come  down.  Had  Moses  failed 
to  observe  an}^  of  the  conditions  given,  he  would 
never  have  realized  the  desired  vision  of  God.  But 
he  was  too  miich  in  earnest  and  too  anxious  to  re- 
ceive the  promised  revelation,  to  omit  the  fulfilment 
of  any  condition,  to  question  or  to  fail  to  obey  the 
divine  decree  in  every  detail.  He  manifested  his 
faith  in  the  act  of  hewing  the  two  stones  and  taking 
them  with  him  to  the  mount.  God  might  easily  have 
furnished  them  by  the  simple  act  of  His  sovereign 
will,  but  here  was  an  opportunity  to  test  and  develop 
the  faith  of  Moses,  while  also  giving  him  the  privi- 
lege of  co-operating  with  God.  He  had  to  arise 
early  and  climb  to  the  top  of  Mount  Sinai;  this 
meant  individual  effort  and  personal  sacrifice,  and 
thus  proved  his  preparation  to  receive  the  promised 
vision.  Moses  rose  up  early,  and  bearing  with  him 
the  stones,  ascended  with  grateful  heart  and  expect- 
ant spirit  to  the  top  of  the  mount  and  presented 
himself  before  the  Lord,  having  faithfully  observed 
all  the  conditions  laid  down  for  him.  Therefore, 
God  rewarded  him  with  special  glimpses  of  His 
glory.  The  spirit  underlying  these  conditions  is 
imperative  to  spiritual  vision,  though  the  form  may 


THE    RKAl.lZA  riON.  75 

and  does  often  vary.  We  must  ever  have  faith  in 
God  and  prepare  ourselves  to  receive  impressions 
from  the  Divine.  Wc  must  ascend  heavenward, 
leavinj4'  behind  the  din  and  noise  of  the  world,  and 
above  clouds  in  the  undimmed  sunlight,  with  sweet 
confidence  and  strong  faith,  hold  hallowed  commun- 
ion with  God.  He  that  is  not  prepared  to  sacrifice 
pleasure,  time  and  case,  and  to  make  all  things  sub- 
servient to  the  realization  of  glimpses  of  God,  will 
never  see  the  glory  of  God  pass  before  him.  Man's 
greatest  glimpses  of  God  have  been  secured  in  soli- 
tude. Special  visions  are  given  only  to  those  in 
special  need  of  them ;  special  need  moves  the  soul 
to  its  depths,  and  when  so  moved  the  soul  instinct- 
ively seeks  solitude.  Strong  souls  seek  solitude. 
This  is  not  strange ;  it  is  their  native  home.  Sub- 
lime spirits  arc  born  in  solitude.  He  that  is  anx- 
ious to  secure  a  worthier  conception  of  the  Eternal 
will  seek  to  be  alone  in  order  to  commune  with  God. 
The  soul  that  would  know  God  must  learn  to  know 
itself,  and  the  soul  that  would  know  itself  retro- 
spectively, introspectively,  and  prospectively,  must 
seek  solitude.  As  there  are  sorrows  too  sacred 
for  speech,  so  there  are  spiritual  experiences  when 
man  instinctively  seeks  solitude  and  becomes  in- 
tolerant of  every  presence  save  the  Divine.  Under 
no  other  conditions  are  glimpses  possible.     When 


76  CzLIMPSES    OF    CxOD. 

the  soul  is  enraptured  with  things  divine,  and  filled 
with  holy  enthusiasm  born  of  the  consciousness  of 
contact  with  God,  and  so  absorbed  in  hallowed  com- 
munion with  Him  that  it  becomes  unconscious  of 
its  physical  surroundings  and  lives  only  to  know 
and  love  the  Father  in  Heaven,  then  and  then  only 
does  it  behold  the  glory  of  God.  This  is  possible  in 
all  environments,  whether  on  the  mount  or  in  the 
valley,  in  the  sunlight  of  pleasure  or  the  shadow  of 
pain.  God  is  not  limited  to  time  nor  place,  and  al- 
though the  mount  has  been  made  sacred  as  the  place 
where  God  has  so  often  revealed  Himself,  yet  we 
rejoice  to  know  that  in  other  scenes  and  less  favored 
spheres  the  voice  of  God  has  been  heard  and  His 
glory  revealed.  Ezekiel  had  visions  of  God  among 
the  captives  by  the  river  Chebar.  The  heavens 
were  opened  to  John  in  the  solitude  of  Patmos. 
Hence,  glimpses  of  God  are  possible  in  very  un- 
promising environments.  Even  when  suffering- 
humiliation  in  the  land  of  captivity  and  surrounded 
by  an  idolatrous  nation,  men  have  received  visions 
of  God.  We  are  not  surprised  when  they  are  given 
on  the  mount,  or  in  the  promised  land,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  freedom,  surrounded  by  religious  influences 
and  privileges,  where  the  very  air  seems  heavy 
laden  with  God's  precious  promises.  It  is  quite 
natural  to  expect  them   by  the   river  Jordan,   the 


THK     RKAl.IZA  IU)N.  77 

scene  of  so  many  of  Crod's  mighty  works,  or  in  the 
temple  where  His  glory  appeared  on  the  mercy 
seat.  But  in  Patmos  and  by  the  river  Chebarl 
This  startles  and  surprises  the  soul,  and  is  a  mys- 
tery ever.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  truth  that  circum- 
stances nor  country,  nor  crimes  of  comrades,  need 
hinder  the  soul  that  seeks,  from  securing  glimpses 
of  God.  It  is  of  supreme  importance  that  we  re- 
member the  circumstances  under  which  this  special 
vision  of  God  was  vouchsafed  to  Moses.  It  was 
when  his  soul  was  bowed  down  in  sorrow,  when  he 
was  assailed  by  spiritual  despondency  and  driven 
by  the  idolatry  of  the  people  to  the  verge  of  despair. 
Spiritual  sorrow  is  ever  rewarded  with  increased 
spiritual  strength.  vSpecial  visions  of  God  are  given 
to  secure  special  victories  over  spiritual  difficulties. 
It  is  strangely  true  that  glimpses  of  God  are  more 
frequently  secured  in  sorrow,  sadness  and  suffering, 
than  in  any  other  seasons.  When  the  night  is  dark 
and  dreary,  when  spiritual  despondency  and  despair 
harass  the  soul,  when  failure  follows  our  footsteps 
and  our  fond  hopes  droop  and  die  in  a  single  night, 
when  sickness  assails  the  body  and  dark  doubt  be- 
clouds the  mind,  and  evil  days  come  upon  us;  when 
there  is  no  solitary  star  of  hope  in  our  spiritual  sky, 
every  light  in  Heaven  having  burned  out  like  a 
candle  in  the  socket, — amidst   such   experiences  as 


78  rxLniPSES  of  god. 

these  do  men  rise  to  holier  coneeptions  of  God. 
This  is  a  strano^e  fact,  but  though  strange,  true, 
and  written  not  only  on  the  leaves  of  history  but  in- 
delibly inscribed  on  the  scroll  of  many  a  soul.  Great 
sorrows  drive  great  souls  closer  to  God.  Job  strug- 
gled until  he  saw  God  when  Satan  sought  to  destroy 
his  soul,  and  everything  seemed  to  suggest  that  he 
was  God-deserted.  The  three  young  men  in  Babylon 
had  glimpses  of  God  in  the  light  of  the  fiery  fur- 
nace. Stephen  saw  the  heavens  open  and  had  a 
transfiguring  vision  of  God  while  suffering  martyr- 
dom, Paul  had  visions  when  persecuted  and  in 
prison.  Martyrs  had  glimpses  of  God's  glory  in  the 
light  of  the  fagot  flame,  when  borne  in  a  chariot  of 
fire  to  Heaven.  Think  not  then,  my  brother,  that 
it  is  necessary  to  live  in  peace  and  prosperity  or  to 
reach  high  altitudes  of  favor,  fortune  or  fame  to 
secure  glimpses  of  God.  Nay,  they  may  be  secured 
when  the  soul  is  bowed  down  by  sorrow,  held  in  the 
iron  grip  of  grief,  and  when  everything  in  the  out- 
ward environments  defies  the  eye  to  see  the  God  of 
love.  Seek  not  to  be  delivered  from  the  night  ex- 
periences of  sorrow,  or  from  the  path  of  self-denial 
and  sacrifice  in  order  to  secure  visions  of  God,  but 
know  rather  that  when  in  the  way  of  duty,  though 
suffering  humiliation  in  the  land  of  captivity  or  sur- 
rounded by  sin  near  Sinai,  outside  the  pale  of  the 


THE    REALIZATION.  79 

promised  land,  then  art  thou  most  assured  of  a 
g-limpse  of  God.  May  we  ever  remember  that  the 
suffering's  of  the  soul,  like  the  sorrows  of  a  child, 
speed  its  flight  to  the  Father's  embrace.  Sorrow 
and  suffering,  when  sanctified  by  sweet  submission 
of  spirit,  issue  into  seasons  of  spiritual  serenity  and 
satisfaction,  the  soul  of  which  is  that  the  spiritual 
God  is  seen. 

III.        THE    RECEIVED    GLIMPSES. 

The  soul  of  all  study  is  the  study  of  God  as  seen 
by  the  soul.  The  soul  that  will  secure  the  greatest 
glimpses  of  God  is  the  soul  that  knows  best  how  to 
value  glimpses  already  received,  whether  by  itself 
or  by  others.  The  secret  of  superior  glimpses  is 
soul-appreciation  of  glimpses  already  secured. 
Nothing,  therefore,  is  of  more  vital  interest  and  im- 
portance to  all  who  would  know  God  than  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  what  men  have  learned  concerning 
Him.  Our  interest  in  the  glimpses  of  God  realized  by 
others  is  commensurate  with  our  individual  yearning 
for  a  worthier  conception  of  God.  The  value  of  every 
life  is  determined  by  the  light  it  throws  on  the  char- 
acter of  God.  Men  are  immortal  to  the  extent  that 
they  have  been  illuminated  and  irradiated  with  the 
light  of  divine  love.  Their  influence  is  imperishable 
and  their  glory  luminous,  as  their  souls  illuminate 


So  GLIMPSES    OF    GOt>. 

the  pathway  to  the  heart  of  God.  The  secret  of  the 
spirituality  and  strength  of  any  soul  is  its  power  to 
make  stepping-stones  of  the  spiritual  experiences  of 
others,  to  rise  to  a  higher  conception  of  God.  Hence 
our  interest  in  the  vision  of  God  vouchsafed  to 
Moses.  The  value  of  the  vision  is  the  glory  it  un- 
veils. Our  interest  in  every  vision  is  proportionate 
to  the  insight  it  gives  into  the  character  of  God.  As 
every  truth  holds  a  manward  and  a  Godward  rela- 
tion, so  every  vision  of  God  possesses  a  human  and 
a  divine  element.  Glimpses  of  God,  like  all  the 
gifts  of  grace,  bring  earth  and  Heaven  together,  and 
blend  the  human  with  the  Divine.  We  have  already 
considered  the  human  element;  now  we  approach 
the  divine.  As  ever,  the  divine  lends  value  to  the 
human,  and  the  received  glimpse  of  God  is  the  soul 
of  our  interest  in  the  recipient  and  the  reception. 
What  is  of  vital  importance  is  that  we  see  God  as 
He  was  seen  of  Moses,  when  His  glory  passed  before 
him.  The  glory  of  God  is  the  harmony  of  holiness, 
as  music  is  the  harmony  of  sounds,  beauty  the  har- 
mony of  color,  and  love  the  harmony  of  hearts.  As 
it  passed  before  Moses  it  was  beauty  to  his  eye, 
music  to  his  ear,  and  love  to  his  heart.  God's  glory 
is  His  goodness;  His  goodness  was  manifested  to 
Moses,  for  it  passed  before  him ;  but  the  goodness  of 
God  being  a  moral  quality  is  of  necessity  invisible  to 


THE    REALIZATION.  8l 

mortal  eye,  save  as  expressed  in  works  or  embodied 
in  a  person  at  onee  both  human  and  divine.  To 
embody  infinite  goodness,  that  person  must  needs  be 
divine;  to  reveal  it  to  man.  He  must  needs  be  hu- 
man. How,  then,  could  Moses  see  "  the  f;'oodness 
of  God,"  apart  from  His  works,  save  in  Jesus 
Christ?  He  could  not  look  upon  the  face  of  God  to 
see  His  glory;  he  could  not  see  His  glory  without 
looking  on  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  divine  love 
declared  it  impossible  to  look  on  the  face  of  God  to 
behold  His  glory,  divine  love  made  it  possible  to 
see  God's  glory  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  We 
can  not  but  believe  that  the  vision  vouchsafed  to 
]^Ioses  was  a  manifestation  of  the  Incarnate  vSon  of 
Ciod  and  a  prophetic  view  of  His  salvation.  What 
more  natural  than  that  the  legislator  through  whom 
the  law  was  being  given  should  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  ^lessiah,  through  whom  grace  and  truth  would 
come?  This  alone  could  have  satisfied  the  desire  of 
Moses.  What  he  reailly  wanted  in  his  heart  of 
hearts,  whether  he  knew  it  or  not,  was  to  see  Jesus, 
who  alone  is  the  supreme  revelation  of  Cxod's  glory. 
Does  not  God  promise  this  when  He  says,  ''  Thou 
shalt  see  My  back  parts?"  What  can  these  words 
mean  if  not  this:  Thou  shalt  sec  Mc  as  I  will  mani- 
fest Myself  in  mercy  to  man  in  the  latter  days?^  It 
is  certain  that  the  phrase  will  bear  this  translation. 


82  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

and  hardly  less  certain  is  it  that  the  spirit  will  bear 
this  interpretation.  God  could  not  be  seen  "  as  in 
the  latter  days  "  save  in  Emmanuel,  in  whom  dwelt 
bodily  the  glory  of  God.  The  possibility  of  such  a 
revelation  is  unquestionable.  Moses  saw  "Christ's 
day,  and  was  glad. ' '  Why  not  believe  that  it  was 
from  Sinai  he  saw  it?  Granted  the  necessity  of  this 
revelation  to  qualify  Moses  for  the  special  work  en- 
trusted to  him  of  God,  in  preparing  a  peculiar  people 
to  receive  the  Messiah,  and  everything  else  is 
granted.  If  the  Incarnation  of  Christ  is  a  fact,  it 
is  to  God  an  eternal  fact,  and  to  Him  the  manifesta- 
tion of  Jesus  to  Moses  presented  no  more  difficulty 
than  His  manifestation  to  Saul  after  His  ascension. 
We  can  not  interpret  the  request  of  Moses  and  the 
response  of  God  without  feeling  that  neither  could 
be  fully  realized,  save  in  the  manifestation  of  the  Re- 
deemer. If  we  say  that  what  Moses  wanted  when  he 
asked  to  see  the  glory  of  God  was  to  understand  how 
holiness  and  love  could  dwell  together  in  harmony, 
his  desire  could  not  be  fulfilled  save  in  a  vision  of 
Jesus  Christ.  In  Him  alone  is  found  the  explana- 
tion, for  in  Him  holiness  and  love  dwell  in  sweet 
accord,  and  mercy  and  truth  are  seen  in  close  em- 
brace. If  what  Moses  wanted  was  a  manifestation 
of  God's  purposes  and  future  dealing  with  Israel, 
surely  no  revelation  could  be  satisfactory  or  com.-- 


TTTE    RFAT.TZATIOX.  83 

pictc  which  left  out  the  soul  of  all  I  Us  dealinos — 
Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  «^lory  of  all  God's 
dealings  with  man,  for  what  is  the  glory  of  God 
save  holiness  triumphant  in  forgiving  love,  right- 
eousness and  mercy  kissing  each  other  ?  This  is 
visible  only  in  the  Saviour.  Jesus  is  the  realization 
and  the  consummation  of  righteous  and  redeeming 
love.  A  glimpse  of  Emmanuel  was  all  that  Moses 
could  desire,  but  nothing  less  could  have  satisfied 
his  heart  or  qualified  him  for  his  service.  More- 
over, the  names  or  attributes  emphasized  in  the 
vision  made  to  Moses  are  without  meaning  only  as 
they  find  expression  and  interpretation  in  Christ. 
"  ^lerciful  and  gracious,  longsuffering  and  abun- 
dant in  goodness  and  truth,  forgiving  iniquity  and 
transgression  and  sin.  "  This  revelation  is  unintel- 
ligible, save  in  Christ  Jesus.  ''  Mercy"  means  a 
heart  for  misery.  It  points  to  the  passibility  of 
God,  and  teaches  how  He  is  capable  of  sympathiz- 
ing with  the  sinner  in  his  suffering.  This  is  the 
initial  step  in  man's  salvation.  He  is  "  gracious  " — 
His  heart  goeth  out  in  saving  love  toward  the  sin- 
ner. "  LongsutTering  " — patient  witli  the  impeni- 
tent; "  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth  " — though 
infinite,  yet  too  full  of  love  to  contain  it.  "  Keeping 
mercy  for  thousands" — making  a  safe  investment 
of   mercy  until    the    S(jul    is    driven    by   poverty   to 


84  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

claim  it.  "  Forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression 
and  sin  ' ' — the  sacrifice  of  the  Sinless  for  the  sinful. 
How  is  this  revelation  possible  only  in  Christ?  It 
is  in  Him  that  the  heart  of  God  is  seen  going  forth 
in  sacrificing  sympathy  to  the  sinner.  In  Him  is 
seen  the  patient  longsuffering  of  God.  In  Him  the 
overflowing  love  of  God  is  manifested.  In  Him 
alone  is  forgiveness  possible  and  mercy  reserved  for 
men.  Surely  this  revelation  was  a  glimpse  of  Gos- 
pel salvation,  and  a  glimpse  of  salvation  means  a 
glimpse  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  greatest 
manifestation  of  the  glory  of  God  to  the  world  is 
Jesus  Christ,  and  well  might  this  have  satisfied  the 
soul  of  Moses  and  brought  him  to  his  knees.  Well 
might  he  have  been  transfigured  by  the  vision,  and 
his  whole  being  become  irradiated  with  its  divine 
glory.  Nothing  could  have  so  prepared  him  to  ele- 
vate, educate  and  emancipate  Israel  as  to  see  Im- 
manuel,  God's  ideal  man  and  man's  ideal  God. 
The  soul  can  find  supreme  satisfaction  only  in  the 
Saviour.  What  all  souls  long  for,  consciously  or 
imconsciously,  is  to  see  the  God  of  love,  and  to  re- 
alize that  in  truth  He  is  the  Father  in  Heaven. 
This  is  the  highest  conception  of  God  possible  to  the 
soul,  as  it  is  the  heart's  deepest  yearning.  The  Fa- 
ther is  seen  only  in  the  Son,  and  he  that  hath  seen 
the  Son  only  has  seen  the   Father.      He  that  hath 


THE    REALIZATION.  85 

seen  the  Son  has  learned  that  "  God  is  love."  He 
understands  how  God  can  love  and  is  moved  to  love 
like  God,  for  His  <^oodness  has  passed  before  him, 
Moses  was  moved  by  love  when  he  requested  God 
to  show  him  His  glory.  God  was  moved  by  love 
when  He  responded  to  the  request,  and  in  a  unique 
manner.  He  in  love  passed  before  him  until  Moses 
was  moved  by  love.  When  Moses  saw  Jesus  he 
became  nobler,  wiser  and  holier.  He  returned  from 
the  mount  of  vision  prepared  for  his  life's  work, 
more  in  sympathy  with  his  people,  a  better  leader, 
a  wiser  ruler,  for  he  had  seen  the  ideal  Ruler  and 
Redeemer — the  Prince  of  Peace. 


THE   RESULT. 

"  And  Moses  made  haste  and  bowed  his  head  toward  the 
,earth  and  worshipped.  And  he  said,  If  now  I  have  found 
grace  in  Thy  sight,  oh  Lord,  let  my  Lord  I  pray  Thee,  go 
among  us ;  for  it  is  a  stiff-necked  people ;  and  pardon  our  iniq- 
uity and  our  sm.  And  take  us  for  Thine  inheritance.  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write  thou  these  words.  For  after 
the  tenor  of  these  words  I  have  made  a  covenant  with  thee 
and  with  Israel.  And  he  was  there  with  the  Lord  forty  days 
and  forty  nights.  He  did  neither  eat  bread  nor  drink  water. 
And  he  wrote  upon  the  tables  the  words  of  the  covenant,  the 
Ten  Commandments.  And  it  came  to  pass  when  Moses  came 
down  from  Mount  Sinai  with  the  two  tables  of  testimony  in 
Moses'  hand,  when  he  came  down  from  the  mount  that  Moses 
wist  not  that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone  while  he  talked  with 
him.  And  when  Aaron  and  all  the  children  of  Israel  saw 
Moses,  behold  the  skin  of  his  face  shone,  and  they  were  afraid 
to  come  nigh  him.  And  Moses  called  unto  them  and  Aaron 
and  all  the  rulers  of  the  congregation  returned  unto  him:  and 
Moses  talked  with  them.  And  afterward  all  the  children  of 
Israel  came  nigh  and  he  gave  them  in  commandment  all  that 
the  Lord  had  spoken  with  him  in  Mount  Sinai." — E.\«.i)i:s 
34:  S.  9,  27-32. 

The  result  of  <,dimpses  of  (iod  is  tninsfig-unition. 


88  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

Transfiguration  is  the  irradiation  of  the  human  by 
divine  love,  as  the  result  of  the  illumination  of  the 
human  by  divine  lig-ht.  To  see  God  is  to  become 
Godlike.  To  know*God  is  to  love  Him,  and  to  love 
Him  is  to  become  like  Him.  The  spirituality  of 
any  soul  depends  upon  its  insight  into  the  spiritual 
nature  of  God.  The  strength  of  any  soul  in  service 
is  determined  by  the  strength  of  its  spiritual  sight. 
The  spiritual  life  deepens  as  the  spiritual  outlook 
widens.  The  higher  the  soul  rises  in  its  conception 
of  God,  the  deeper  becomes  its  sensibility  to  things 
spiritual.  Vision  ends  in  adoration ;  adoration  ends 
in  assimilation;  assimilation  ends  in  reproduction. 
This  is  Godliness.  Godliness  is  Godlikeness,  and 
Godlikeness  is  the  result  of  adoringly  gazing  on 
God's  glory.  The  soul  that  secures  the  greatest 
vision  of  God  becomes  most  like  the  God  of  the 
vision.  The  vision  mirrors  the  transfigured  soul; 
the  transfigured  soul  mirrors  the  God  of  the  vision. 
In  the  vision,  love  unveils  divine  life  ;  in  the  transfig- 
uration, life  unveils  divine  love.  The  vision  is  life 
in  the  language  of  love ;  the  transfiguration  is  love 
in  the  language  of  life.  He  who  beholds  the  glory 
of  God  is  transformed  to  His  very  image.  Glimpses 
of  God  illuminate  and  irradiate  man's  whole  being, 
until  he  becomes  Godlike.  All  glimpses  of  God 
have  a  transforming  influence,  but  the  greater  the 


THE    RESULT.  89 

vision  the  ^'rcater  its  transfii^Tirino-  power.  Our 
vision  of  (iod  determines  our  eoneeption  of  Ilini, 
and  our  eoneeption  of  God  determines  our  charaeter 
before  God.  Our  charaeter  always  conforms  to  our 
eoneeption  of  God  and  it  ean  never  rise  higher. 
Conception  of  God  is  character  in  promise ;  charac- 
ter is  conception  of  Cjod  in  crystallization.  jSIan 
worships  the  God  of  his  conception,  and  becomes 
like  the  God  he  worships.  He  reverences  God  as 
his  conception  rises  ;  and  he  reproduces  God  in 
proportion  as  he  reverences.  Glimpses  of  God  gen- 
erate reverence  in  the  soul.  The  soul  retains  what 
it  reverences,  ruminates  on  what  it  retains,  and  re- 
produces that  on  which  it  ruminates.  Aloses  re- 
ceived a  glimpse  of  (xod  which  increased  his  rever- 
ence, and  as  a  pearl  of  great  price  it  was  treasured 
in  his  heart  and  retained  in  his  memory.  Rever- 
ently he  reflected  and  ruminated  on  the  vision  he 
had  received,  until  its  glory  became  an  integral  part 
of  his  being  and  was  reproduced  in  his  life.  This  is 
the  secret  of  his  transfiguration.  It  is  ever  thus. 
The  soul  that  receives  a  vision  of  God  will  reverence 
the  God  of  the  vision,  retain  and  ruminate  on  the 
vision,  and  will  invariably  reproduce  and  reflect  its 
glory.  These  are  the  stages  in  man's  transfigura- 
tion, and  the  results  of  glimpses  of  God — reverence, 
retention,  rumination  and  reproduction. 


90  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 


revp:rence. 


"  And  Moses  made  haste  and  bowed  his  head  toward  the 
earth,  and  worshipped." 

Thus  humility  hastens  to  do  homage  to  holiness. 
Humility  loves  holiness  and  holiness  loves  humility. 
One  attracts  the  other,  and  where  both  meet,  there 
is  Heaven.  Humility  honors  holiness  in  doing-  it 
homage ;  holiness  honors  humility  in  receiving  its 
homage.  Holiness  produces  humility,  and  humility 
promotes  holiness.  Humility  is  the  condition  of 
holiness  in  man,  and  holiness  the  crown  of  humili- 
ty. He  who  gazes  on  the  glory  of  God  instinctivelv 
bows  his  head  and  worships.  He  does  not  droop  as 
doth  the  fading  flower,  but  bends  rather  like  the 
full  and  ripened  ear  of  corn  under  its  very  weight  of 
glory,  having  profited  by  the  light  and  warmth  of 
Heaven  until  made  ready  for  sacrifice  and  service. 
It  is  on  his  knees  alone  man  can  enter  into  the  hoi}- 
of  holies  of  the  temple  of  truth,  and  invariably  he 
wdio  has  so  entered  and  seen  the  glory  of  God  on 
the  mercyseat  will  return  with  increased  humility 
of  heart,  lowliness  of  spirit  and  contrition  of  soul. 
Glimpses  of  God's  glory  can  not  fail  to  impress  the 
soul  privileged  to  receive  them  with  a  sense  of 
its  own  utter  unworthiness.  The  lonofer  we  oraze 
Upon  the  sun  of  righteousness,  live  in  its  light  and 


rHK    UKSIT[/|-.  gt 

treasure  its  beams,  the  more  oppressive  will  be- 
eomc  the  eonseioiisness  of  our  own  moral  darkness. 
The  further  we  arc  permitted  to  wander  into  the 
temple  of  holiness,  the  deeper  will  become  our 
hatred  of  all  that  is  unholy.  The  nearer  we  are 
permitted  to  draw  to  the  heart  of  Ood,  and  the  more 
we  learn  to  appreciate  the  depth  of  divine  love,  the 
more  will  we  realize  the  shallowness  of  our  own 
lives  and  the  selfishness  of  our  own  love.  This  will 
bring  us  to  our  knees,  not  only  to  adore,  but  in  in- 
tense earnestness  of  spirit  to  seek  to  be  transformed 
to  God's  glorious  image.  This  is  reverence.  Sin 
becomes  hideous  in  the  light  of  holiness ;  selfishness 
dies  in  the  presence  of  divine  love.  We  learn  to 
love  as  we  learn  how  God  loves.  He  who  has  seen 
the  glor}^  of  God — Jesus  Christ — has  learned  to  look 
with  the  eye  of  God  on  self,  on  sin,  and  on  society. 
He  hates  iniquity  with  the  hatred  of  God's  holy 
heart,  and  is  filled  with  contrition  when  the  light  of 
holiness  reveals  the  stains  of  sin  on  his  soul.  Moses 
learned  his  lesson  of  forgiving  love  wlien  permitted 
with  prophetic  eye  to  gaze  on  (yod's  incarnate  love 
in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  ever  thus.  No  miracle,  how- 
ever mighty,  or  manifestation,  however  majestic, 
will  so  move  the  soul  to  realize  its  best  in  life  and 
love,  as  the  matchless  miracle  of  mercy  —  Jesus 
Christ.      To   see    Jesus,  the   glory  of   God,  is  to  be- 


92  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

come  like  Him,  full  of  God's  glory.  No  surer  sign 
of  having  secured  glimpses  of  God  is  possible  than 
the  possession  of  the  Christlike  spirit,  and  no  surer 
sign  is  possible  that  we  possess  the  spirit  of  the  Son 
of  God  than  that,  like  Him,  we  constantly  seek  com- 
munion with  the  Father.  This  spirit  Moses  pos- 
sessed; he  "  bowed  his  head  toward  the  earth  and 
worshipped."  Holiness  invariably  fills  the  soul 
with  humility,  and  humility  uplifts  the  soul  to  hold 
hallowed  communion  with  the  High  and  Holy  One. 
The  soul  finds  its  supreme  satisfaction  in  seasons  of 
spiritual  vision,  in  the  worship  of  the  spiritual  God. 
This  is  the  object,  not  only  of  every  vision  of  God 
vouchsafed  to  man,  but  of  everything  that  divine 
love  has  undertaken  in  man's  behalf.  To  enable 
the  human  life  to  blend  with  the  divine  in  the  har- 
mony of  holiness,  is  the  high  aim  of  holy  love. 
Communion  between  God  and  man  is  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  highest  purposes  of  the  Divine  and  the 
satisfaction  of  the  deepest  yearning  of  the  human. 
Heaven  itself  can  contain  no  choicer  crown  for  the 
Christian  than  to  be  privileged  to  gaze  upon  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  through 
constant  communion  to  be  changed  and  conformed 
to  His  very  image.  Only  the  soul  that  has  seen  the 
glory  of  God  knows  how  to  appreciate  the  privilege 
of  drawing  near  to  God  in  prayer.      Nothing  so  in- 


THE    RESUT.T.  93 

Spires  man  with  the  enthusiasm  of  holiness  for  eom- 
munion  with  the  Father  in  Heaven  as  to  behold  the 
Lord's  Christ.  The  soul  that  has  not  seen  the  glory 
of  God  is  not  capable  of  the  highest  communion, 
and  he  who  knows  not  what  it  is  to  pray  is  a  stranger 
to  the  most  Christlike  passion  and  Godlike  peace. 
The  secret  of  salvation  is  absolute  conformity, 
through  communion,  with  Jesus  Christ.  Salvation 
apart  from  conformity,  or  conformity  apart  from 
communion,  is  impossible.  To  see  Christ  is  to  see 
the  Father,  and  to  see  the  Father  only  can  satisfy 
the  soul.  A  passion  for  prayer  is  a  preparation  for, 
and  a  promise  of,  visions  of  God.  Without  prayer 
no  glimpse  of  God  is  possible;  with  prayer  every 
vision  of  God  is  possible.  As  Moses  understood  the 
spiritual  nature  of  God,  his  faith  and  his  love  in- 
creased. His  confidence  deepened  as  his  conception 
widened,  and  the  better  he  understood  the  character 
of  God,  the  readier  was  he  to  trust  his  own  life  and 
the  life  of  his  people  to  His  care.  Is  not  this  the 
meaning  of  the  words  which  fell  from  his  lips,  "  Let 
my  Lord,  I  pray  Thee,  come  among  us  and  pardon 
our  iniquity  and  sin,  and  take  us  for  Thine  inherit- 
ance?" He  had  already  told  the  Lord  that  he  loved 
these  people  far  better  than  his  life,  and  now  lie 
can  desire  nothing  l)ctter  for  himself  or  tliem  tlian 
to  be  made  the  subjects  of  the  grand  and  glorious 


94  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

salvation  which  he  had  been  permitted  to  see. 
Moses  could  pay  no  greater  compliment  than  this  to 
divine  love.  The  only  way  to  appreciate  the  Sav- 
iour is  to  accept  His  salvation.  To  realize  and  rec- 
ognize that  through  God  alone  is  redemption  pos- 
sible, and  to  receive  the  Redeemer  with  true  glad- 
ness of  heart,  is  all  that  God  requires  and  all  that 
man  can  do.  When  we  realize  that  God  is  love,  and 
learn  how  God  can  love,  we  have  seen  His  glory. 
When  the  mother  who  would  gladly  sacrifice  her 
own  life  to  preserve  her  child  has  so  learned  to  ap- 
preciate the  love  of  God  that  she  can  look  up  into 
His  face  and  say,  "  Into  Thy  hands,  O  Father  of 
love,  I  commit  my  child,  knowing  well  that  Thy 
love  will  last  where  mine  may  grow  cold, ' '  the  good- 
ness of  God  has  surely  passed  before  her. 

II.        RETENTION. 

"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write  thou  these  words." 

The  command  to  write,  although  expressly  given 
in  connection  with  the  divine  precepts  delivered  to 
Moses,  is  pertinent  to  the  vision,  for  it  emphasizes 
a  duty  which  all  who  have  received  glimpses  of  God 
have  ever  been  glad  to  obey.  Moses  realized  that 
the  principle  underlying  the  command  was  to  be 
honored  in  connection  with  the  vision.  Therefore 
he  wrote  not  only  all  the  words  that  God  to  him  had 


THE    RESULT.  95 

spoken,  but  everything  that  words  could  tell  of  the 
glory  he  had  seen.  Every  soul  that  has  received  a 
vision  of  God  instinctively  seeks  to  retain  its  influ- 
ence and  reproduce  its  glory.  Indeed,  no  result 
more  naturally  follows  the  reception  of  glimpses  of 
God  than  the  desire  to  retain  and  to  reproduce. 
Without  an  appreciative  spirit,  glimpses  of  God 
would  be  impossible  ;  possessing  this  spirit,  retention 
is  imperative.  He  that  has  seen  the  divine  glory, 
heard  the  divine  voice  and  felt  the  divine  power, 
will  treasure  these  privileges  more  than  life  and 
love  them  as  the  soul's  richest  heritage.  Glimpses 
of  God  are  never  forgotten;  their  influence  will  last 
as  long  as  life.  Memory  gladly  retains  what  the 
soul  reverences.  The  glory  of  memory  is  that  it 
ever  retains  glimpses  of  God's  glory.  To  perpetu- 
ate impressions  and  influences  produced  by  visions 
of  God  is  memory's  most,  sacred  service  to  the  soul. 
As  the  priests  in  the  tabernacle  of  old  kept  the 
lamps  ever  burning,  and  the  people  ever  reminded 
of  the  abiding  presence  of  God's  glory  on  the  mercy- 
seat,  so  memory,  like  a  priest  in  the  temple  of  the 
soul,  keeps  the  soul  ever  illuminated  with  the  light 
received  from  the  vision  of  God's  glory,  (ylimpses 
of  God  are  the  most  honored  paintings  whicli  hang 
on  memory's  walls.  What  man  has  seen  of  (iod  is 
indelibly  written  in  letters  of  love  on  his  soul.      He 


96  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

who  has  heard  the  divine  voice  reverently  retains 
the  message  it  breathes.  Every  revelation  of  God 
given  to  man  in  time  has  an  eternal  significance, 
and  though  of  pre-eminent  individual  importance  is, 
nevertheless,  of  universal  interest.  It  is  therefore 
imperative  that  we  retain,  so  that  we  may  reproduce 
the  vision  of  God  vouchsafed  to  us.  God's  inter- 
pretation of  the  mystery  of  divine  love  will  ever 
remain  the  soul's  most  sacred  trust.  Glimpses 
of  God  leave  a  lasting  impression  upon  the  soul. 
The  greater  the  vision,  the  greater  its  influence. 
Moses  was  able  to  tell  the  children  of  Israel  "  all 
that  the  Lord  had  spoken  to  him  on  the  mount." 
Ezekiel  remembered  the  exact  day  on  which  he 
received  his  vision  of  God;  John  remembered 
the  hour  when  first  he  beheld  the  glory  of  the 
^lessiah;  Paul  remembered  the  place  and  hour 
when  he  saw  the  Saviour.  Every  saint  has  seasons 
and  scenes  made  ever  sacred  in  his  spiritual  experi- 
ence, because  of  special  visions  received.  We  are 
made  strong  and  Godlike,  in  proportion  as  our  life 
is  marked  and  moulded  by  these  seasons  of  spiritual 
vision.  It  will  ever  be  thus.  AVe  can  not  but  re- 
member the  first  ray  of  light  which  illuminated  our 
soul,  and  brought  hope  and  life  to  our  sad  and  sor- 
rowing spirits  in  the  dark  night  of  guilt.  Who  can 
forget  the   first  glimpse   of  God's   saving  grace  in 


THE    RESUT/r.  97 

Christ  Jesiis?  It  is  easier  to  forget  everything-  than 
this  vision  of  love,  and  while  the  soul  lives  its  mem- 
ory will  last.  It  is  a  fixed  star  of  hope  in  our  spir- 
itual sky.  While  there  are  many  who  have  been 
surrounded  by  religious  influences  all  their  lives, 
who  are  unable  to  analyze  the  forces  that  have  con- 
tributed to  their  spiritual  development,  or  point  to 
any  special  season  in  their  histories  when  they  first 
saw  God,  yet  it  is  imperative  that  all  should  know 
that  glimpses  of  God  have  been  received.  There 
should  be  a  time  in  the  life  of  every  believer,  to 
which  he  can  point  as  being  a  season  in  which  his 
soul  has  seen  the  spiritual  God,  when  in  a  state  of 
spiritual  ecstasy  he  breathed  love  in  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  Heaven  and  was  irradiated  with  the  beams 
of  God's  holiness.  No  soul  should  be  content  with- 
out securing  these  seasons  of  spiritual  serenity  and 
sanctification.  No  soul  will  fail  to  find  who  will  but 
seek.      None  privileged  to  receive  will  fail  to  retain. 

111.        RUMIXA'JIOX. 

"  And  he  was  there  with  the  Lord  forty  days  and  forty 
nights;  he  did  neither  eat  bread,  nor  drink  water." 

Everything  points  to  the  fact  that  Moses  rumi- 
ULitcd  long  and  well  on  the  glimpses  of  (uxl  he  liad 
received.  He  thought  again  and  ai^ain,  mused  and 
nieditated,    pondered    and    rellccted    on    the    vision 


98  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

vouchsafed  to  him,  nntil  his  soul  became  surcharged 
with  God's  glory.  He  gladly  availed  himself  of  the 
seclusion  and  solitude  of  Sinai  to  meditate  on  the 
glory  that  had  been  revealed  to  him.  For  forty 
days  and  forty  nights  he  was  in  the  mount,  without 
time,  opportunity,  or  probably  inclination,  to  eat  or 
drink.  It  is  unnatural  to  suppose  that  all  this  time 
was  occupied  in  receiving  his  glimpses  of  God  or  in 
writing  the  divinely-given  precepts,  while  nothing- 
is  more  natural  than  that  he  should  ruminate  on 
what  had  been  revealed.  He  had  been  uplifted  to 
a  state  of  spiritual  ecstasy  by  the  vision  vouchsafed 
to  him  until  he  was  unconscious  or  unmindful  of  aught 
save  the  glory  of  God.  When  men  secure  great 
glimpses  of  God  they  become  so  lost  in  contempla- 
tion of  the  perfections  of  His  being  that  they  are 
unmindful  of  the  claims  of  their  physical  nature,  and 
live  only  to  ruminate  on  the  vision  they  have  received. 
That  Moses,  who  represented  the  law;  Elijah,  who 
represented  the  prophets,  and  Christ,  the  fulfill- 
ment of  both,  should  each  have  spent  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  in  devout  meditation  after  receiving  a 
special  revelation,  surely  teaches  the  spiritual  value  of 
rumination.  Spiritual  vision  makes  spiritual  reflec- 
tion imperative.  Rumination  is  the  process  by  which 
the  soul  assimilates  glimpses  of  God.  The  spirituality 
Qf  the  soul  is  developed,  not  by  what  it  has  seen  of 


THE    RESULT.  99 

God,  but  by  what  it  has  assimilated  of  God.  Rever- 
ential rumination  is  a  eondition  of  spiritual  strength 
and  Godliness.  We  become  Godlike,  in  proportion 
as  we  ruminate  on  the  g-limpses  of  God  we  have  re- 
ceived. Meditation  is  the  law  of  development  in 
the  moral  as  well  as  in  the  mental  world.  Assimila- 
tion determines  the  orrowth  of  the  mind  and  soul. 
As  book-learning  is  so  much  raw  material,  which 
has  to  be  coined  in  the  mental  mint  into  the  cur- 
rency of  the  realm  of  thought,  before  it  can  con- 
tribute to  the  growth  or  glory  of  the  mind,  so  spir- 
itual knowledge  has  to  be  assimilated  by  the  soul, 
through  devout  meditation,  before  it  can  contribute 
U)  its  spiritual  life,  (jlimpses  of  God  are  valuable 
only  when  the  soul  has  so  ruminated  upon  them  that 
through  the  process  of  assimilation  they  have  be- 
come a  constituent  part  of  its  very  being.  The 
great  need  of  the  world,  intellectually  and  spiritual- 
ly, is  not  more  knowledge,  but  more  thought.  What 
it  requires  is  not  more  revelation  but  more  reveren- 
tial reflection.  Though  glimpses  of  (rod  are  e\'cr 
the  soul's  most  precious  lieritagc,  yet  until  they  be- 
come, thnnigh  meditation,  an  integral  |)art  of  our 
spiritual  nature,  they  are  like  unutilized  forces,  in- 
valuable Init  wasted  energies,  (lod  gives  a  revela- 
tion of  Himself  only  to  the  soul  that  is  meditative, 
for  no  other  is  prepared  to  receive  or  to  profit  by 


lOO  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  revelation.  Hence,  it  is  invariably  the  rule  that 
the  greatest  glimpses  of  God  are  given  to  the  great- 
est sonls,  for  the  greatest  souls  are  greatest  in  re- 
flective and  assimilative  faculties.  This  is  at  once 
both  the  condition  and  the  crown  of  greatness.  Had 
Moses  not  ruminated  upon  the  vision  of  God,  and 
thus  assimilated  its  glory,  his  transfiguration  would 
have  been  impossible.  God's  spiritual  nature  is 
made  known  to  the  meditative  soul  onh^  and  that 
in  proportion  as  its  meditation  is  spiritual.  Recep- 
tivity is  the  secret  of  revelation.  Revelation  is  the 
secret  of  reverential  reflection,  and  rumination  the 
secret  of  reproduction. 

IV.        REPRODUCTION. 

"  And  when  he  came  down  from  the  mount,  Moses  wist  not 
that  the  skin  of  his  face  shone.  .  .  .  And  he  gave  them 
in  commandment  all  that  the  Lord  had  spoken  to  him  in 
Mount  Sinai." 

|:,  Thus  did  Moses  consciously  and  unconsciously  re- 
produce the  glimpses  of  God  he  had  secured  on 
Mount  Sinai.  Consciously,  he  uttered  the  words 
God  to  him  had  spoken ;  unconsciously,  he  reflected 
the  civine  glory  he  had  seen.  Thus  do  all  men 
who  have  seen  God  reveal  Him.  Every  man  who 
hears  the  divine  voice  becomes  aproplict, — a  person- 
ified voice,  the  echo  of  the   voice  of  God.      What  is 


IHK    RESUI/r.  lOI 

heard  is  heard  for  others,  as  well  as  for  ourselves. 
Every  revelation  given,  while  important  for  our- 
selves, is  none  the  less  valuable  to  others.  God 
reveals  Himself  not  simply  that  the  individual  might 
be  saved,  but  that  through  the  individual  He  might 
redeem  the  race.  Glimpses  of  God  are  not  given  to 
satisfy  mere  sentiment  or  to  feed  selfishness,  but 
rather  to  prepare  the  recipient  the  better  to  serve 
God  and  his  generation.  The  law  of  grace  is  that 
we  love  to  give  what  love  to  us  has  given.  We  re- 
ceive in  order  to  give.  The  more  generous  we  are 
in  giving,  the  more  generously  shall  we  receive.  We 
shall  be  rewarded  with  new  revelation,  according  to 
our  fidelity  in  reproducing  revelations  already  re- 
ceived. Man's  moral  mission  in  the  world  is  to  mir- 
ror his  ^laker.  ^lan  mirrors  God  in  proportion  as 
he  has  been  privileged  to  see  His  glory.  Thus, 
when  man  sees  God,  God  is  seen  in  the  man.  When 
man  has  been  illuminated  with  the  beams  of  God's 
holiness,  filled  w4th  the  energy  of  divine  light  and 
irradiated  by  ineffable  love,  he  becomes  a  personi- 
fied conscience — a  determinati\'e  element  in  men's 
character,  and  in  their  conception  of  God.  The  im- 
pulse to  seek  and  the  instinct  to  find  God  we  call 
inspiration.  The  glimpses  of  God  received,  and 
visions  reproduced,  we  call  revelation.  All  men 
are   not  equally   inspired,  therefore   all  men  do  not 


T02  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

equally  reveal  (lod.  There  is  no  injustiee  in  this, 
for  as  men  are  unequal  in  intelleetual  endowment, 
so  are  they  in  spiritual  faeulties,  with  this  differ- 
ence, however,  that  intellectual  genius  is  a  gift, 
while  spiritual  genius  is  a  gTowth.  That  is,  a  man 
may  be  an  intellectual  genius  and  yet  leave  his 
mind  uncultivated,  for  the  love  of  knowledge  is  not 
always  proportionate  to  the  ability  to  know.  But 
in  the  spiritual  realm,  the  faculty  to  know  is  com- 
mensurate with  the  desire  to  know,  superior  knowl- 
edge being  the  reward  of  superior  love.  Thus,  the 
desire  for  spiritual  knowledge  is  the  condition  of 
spiritual  sight.  Inspiration  is  the  power  to  receive 
knowledge  of  God;  revelation,  the  reproduction  of 
knowledge  received.  Inspiration  is  the  faculty  to 
appreciate  vision;  revelation  is  that  faculty,  exer- 
cising its  function  in  reproduction.  Inspiration 
comes  from  God;  revelation  comes  through  man. 
Inspiration  is  the  cause;  revelation  is  the  effect. 
Inspiration  is  imperative  to  revelation;  revelation 
is  imperative  to  inspiration.  The  God  of  love  could 
not  but  men  inspire ;  inspired  men  could  not  but  God 
reveal.  The  inspiration  determines  the  revelation ; 
the  revelation  is  proportionate  to  the  inspiration. 
God  will  be  seen  in  the  man  in  proportion  as  the 
man  has  seen  God.  The  sun  can  not  withhold  its 
light   nor  the   flower  its  fragrance,  neither  can  the 


THE    RF.SUI/r.  10^^ 

inspired  soul  witlihold  its  revelation.  Man  instinet- 
ively  realizes  that  lie  has  no  rii^iit  to  reserve  to  him- 
self knowledo-c  vital  to  the  welfare  of  others.  Man 
receives  light  from  Heaven  that  he  might  refleet  it 
on  the  world.  The  soul  that  has  seen  God  can  not 
but  help  others  to  see  Him.  The  most  absorbing 
passion  of  the  inspired  soul  is  so  to  reveal  (xod  that 
men  may  be  inspired  with  a  passion  to  become  God- 
like. That  the  revelation  should  be  written  is  as 
natural  as  that  the  inspired  soul  should  speak.  The 
revelation  being  of  pre-eminent  importance  to  all 
people,  its  preservation  in  a  permanent  form  acces- 
sible to  all  is  imperative.  The  Bible  is  a  reproduc- 
tion of  glimpses  of  God  given  to  God-inspired  men. 
It  is  a  rich  galaxy  of  glorious  glimpses  of  God.  It 
contains  what  the  best  of  men  at  their  best  have 
seen  of  God,  and  as  God's  special  relation  to  any 
soul  is  an  indication  of  the  natural  relation  He  bears 
to  all,  what  He  speaks  to  one  He  speaks  to  all. 
This  constitutes  the  authority  of  the  Bible  in  mat- 
ters of  conduct,  and  its  charm  as  a  guide  into  the 
mystery  of  divine  love.  As  God  is  ever  the  same, 
the  revelation  is  unchangeable,  though  man's  con- 
ception of  both  will  vary  according  to  his  inspira- 
tion. God  is  ever  giving  to  man  greater  discern- 
ment of  revealed  truth,  and  men  in  every  age  dis- 
cover new  and  larger  meanings  in   the  revelation 


l04  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

made  through  inspired  men.  Men  are  privileged 
to-day  to  behold  in  the  revelation,  glories  which 
were  hidden  from  the  inspired  men  through  whom 
it  was  given.  Thus,  though  the  revelation  is  infal- 
lible, because  divinely  given,  it  neither  exhausts 
nor  excludes  inspiration.  God  deals  with  soul  as 
soul,  and  though  He  speaks  to  all  as  He  speaks  to 
each  individual  soul.  He  speaks  to  each  as  He 
speaks  to  all.  What  other  men  have  seen  of  the 
divine  glory  and  reproduced  in  their  lives  is  valu- 
able only  as  it  stimulates  the  individual  soul  to  seek 
the  spiritual  God.  The  Bible  is  not  the  consumma- 
tion of  divine  knowledge,  but  rather  one  of  God's 
primers,  the  study  of  which  qualifies  the  soul  for  a 
higher  revelation.  When  its  teaching  has  become 
incorporated  into  the  life  of  our  soul,  it  becomes  of 
practical  value,  and  that  in  proportion  as  it  prepares 
and  adapts  us  to  know  more  of  God.  He  who  rests 
with  simply  contemplating  the  revelation  made 
through  others,  without  rising  to  seek  individual  and 
immediate  knowledge  of  God,  is  false  to  the  genius 
of  revelation  and  untrue  to  the  profoundest  impulse 
of  his  soul.  To  believe  that  knowledge  of  God 
travels  only  along  the  beaten  lines  of  Biblical  truth, 
is  to  limit  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty.  The 
consummation  and  crown  of  all  revelation  is  Jesus 
Christ.     For  eternity  He  will  continue  to  be  the 


THE    RESULT.  I05 

supreme  manifestation  of  Cxod,  yet  the  soul  will  see 
the  Father  in  the  Son,  not  according-  to  what  others 
have  seen  or  written,  but  as  it  is  inspired  by  love 
immediately  to  interpret  His  life.  We  must  see 
Christ  before  we  can  be  transformed  to  His  image, 
and  at  best  the  Bible  is  only  a  mirror  which  reflects 
His  grlory.  In  Heaven,  as  on  earth,  some  new  rev- 
elation will  gladden  the  heart,  and  glimpses  of  God 
ever  greet  the  gaze  of  the  redeemed.  Progressive 
revelation  and  increased  knowledge  are  imperative  to 
the  happiness  of  the  soul.  Individual  development 
in  Godliness  must  ever  depend  on  individual  discov- 
ery. Increased  knowledge  is  the  secret  of  increased 
love,  increased  love  the  secret  of  increased  service, 
and  increased  service  the  secret  of  increased  glory 
and  happiness.  Conformity  to  Christ  is  possible 
only  through  individual  communion  with  Him. 
The  value  of  every  life  is  the  inspiration  it  gives 
men  to  seek  individual  communion  with  God.  Thus, 
the  measure  of  a  man's  influence  on  his  generation 
is  determined,  not  directly  by  the  glimpses  of  God 
he  has  secured,  but  indirectly  by  the  glory  of  God  he 
reproduces  in  his  life.  The  glory  of  any  man  is  not 
that  he  has  seen  God,  but  that  (xod  is  so  seen  in 
him  that  men  through  him  are  moved  to  love  God. 
The  power  to  reveal  God  and  to  reproduce  His 
glory  is  the  great  essential   qualification   to  serve 


Io6  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

humanity  and  Heaven.  Without  this  revealing-  love, 
knowledo-c  and  faith  are  as  "  sounding-  brass  or  a 
clanging  cymbal."  The  greatest  need  of  the  world 
is  more  men  who  have  seen  God,  and  in  whom  God  is 
seen, — men  made  so  beautiful  in  holiness  that  they 
inspire  men  to  become  holy.  The  soul's  highest 
attainment  is  to  become  so  transparent  that  God  is 
seen  through  it.  This  is  possible  only  through  liv- 
ing in  the  light  of  holy  love.  Moses  looked  with 
adoring  eyes  upon  the  glory  of  God,  until  he  was 
unconsciously  transformed  to  its  very  image.  This 
is  the  secret  of  transfiguration — to  draw  so  near  the 
heart  of  God  that  our  whole  being,  mental,  moral 
and  material,  is  irradiated  with  His  light.  In  the 
light  of  love  the  face  of  Moses  became  luminous. 
He  "  wist  not  that  his  face  shone."  Unconsciously 
he  was  clothed  with  the  glory  of  God,  and  uncon- 
sciously he  reflected  the  light  of  ineffable  love. 
True  greatness  is  ever  unconscious  of  its  glory,  and 
God  alone  can  tell  the  value  of  unconscious  influ- 
ence. Moses  was  illuminated  with  divine  light  and 
irradiated  with  divine  love,  and  thus  unconsciously 
he  reproduced  the  glory  he  had  seen  in  the  mount. 
Divine  love  alone  can  so  irradiate  the  human,  and 
make  m  ^n  Godlike.  Let  him  who  would  be  trans- 
figiired  follow  in  the  steps  of  Moses  until  he  comes 
in  touch  with  God,  and  by  that  touch  is  transformed 


THE    RKSITl.T.  107 

to  His  i^lorious  iiiKii^c.  lie  who  is  thus  transtiu-ured 
bears  tlic  iina^t^'c  of  (iod,  and  is  like  the  image  he 
bears.  He  ereales  a  moral  atmosphere  around  him- 
self, in  which  selfishness  and  sin  can  not  live.  Such 
is  the  influence  of  Godliness.  Godliness  is  the  gath- 
ered o-leanings  of  Glimpses  of  God.  Glimpses  of 
(lod — the  glittering  gems  of  grace — are  the  Genesis 
and  *'-oal  of  Cxodliness. 


THE  THREE   CROSSES. 

"  And  when  they  were  come  to  the  place,  which  is  called  Cal- 
vary, there  they  crucified  Him,  and  the  malefactors,  one  on 
the  right  hand  and  the  other  on  the  left." — Luke  23:  33. 

The  three  crosses  of  Calvary  represent  the  three 
crosses  of  humanity.  On  one  of  these  three  crosses 
every  man  is  crucified.  The  first  is  the  cross  of 
selfishness,  the  second  the  cross  of  self-surrender, 
and  the  third  the  cross  of  self-sacrifice.  The  first 
is  the  sinner's  cross,  the  second  the  saint's,  and  the 
third  the  Saviour's.  The  sufferer  on  the  first  died 
losing-  life,  the  sufferer  on  the  second  died  receiving 
life,  and  the  sufferer  on  the  third  died  giving  life. 
The  first  was  dead  in  sin,  the  second  was  dead  to 
sin,  and  the  third  was  the  death  of  sin.  Let  us 
study  the  characters  of  these  crucified  ones,  and 
strive  to  learn  the  lessons  of  their  lives  in  order  to 
understand  the  goal  toward  which  we  ourselves  arc, 
moving.  It  is  imperative  that  we  decide  immedi- 
ately which  of  these  three  is  our  representative,  in 
order  that  we   mav  understand  thorou-'hlv  our  own 


no  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

character,  our  influence  on  the  world,  the  nature  of 
the  cross  on  which  we  are  crucified,  and  the  end 
which  will  inevitably  be  ours  if  we  persistently  pur- 
sue the  same  path.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  crucifixion 
the  characters  of  the  two  thieves  who  were  crucified 
with  Christ  were  so  similar  as  to  be  almost  iden- 
tical. The  principles  by  which  they  were  prompted, 
the  motives  by  which  they  were  moved,  their  dis- 
honor, disgrace  and  death,  were  so  similar  up  to 
the  crosses,  where  each  turned  his  own  way,  that  to 
represent  the  character  of  one  is  to  faithfully  portray 
the  life  of  the  other.  They  were  thieves,  or  more 
correctly,  robbers — wholesale  plunderers,  belong-- 
ing  most  probably  to  the  band  of  Barabbas.  They 
were  impulsive,  ambitious,  courageous.  They  sacri- 
ficed judgment  for  sentiment,  honesty  for  notoriety. 
They  became  malefactors  in  order  to  become  bene- 
factors. They  condemned  in  principle  what  they  up- 
held in  practice.  They  neither  respected  human  laws 
nor  obeyed  the  laws  of  Heaven.  They  were  selfish 
enough  to  dishonor  men,  and  sinful  enough  to  dis- 
obey God.  They  aimed  to  secure  national  and  polit- 
ical liberty  through  moral  slavery.  They  endeav- 
ored to  seciire  national  right  through  moral  wrong. 
They  attempted  to  condemn  national  tyranny  and 
social  slavery  through  individual  cruelty,  oppres- 
sion and  crime.     They   fain   would   employ   vice  to 


THE    THRKF:    crosses.  Ill 

enthrone  virtue.  It  is  probal^le,  however,  that  they 
were  looked  upon  as  publie  heroes  beeause  their 
motive,  aceordin<^  to  publie  opinion  (regardless  of 
the  means  employed  or  the  result  realized),  was  to 
faeilitate  the  freedom  and  emancipation  of  their 
nation  from  the  shame  and  slavery  of  the  Romish 
yoke.  This  seems  to  be  the  only  reasonable  w^ay  of 
explainini^  the  demand  for  the  release  of  Barabbas 
by  men  who  professedly  were  so  attached  to  the 
Law  of  Moses,  which  rec[uired  the  death  of  every 
murderer.  They  looked  upon  him  as  a  patriot,  one 
who  had  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  bid  fair  to 
justify  his  claim.  This  being  so,  the  people's  posi- 
tion was  clear  and  the  contrast  suggested  in  the 
([uestion  of  Pilate  all  the  more  pointed  when  he 
asked,  "  Whom  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you, 
(Jesus)  Barabbas  or  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ  ?  " 
The  people  were  ready  to  follow  Barabbas,  for  in 
many  things  he  was  their  ideal  Messiah.  Had 
Christ  employed  the  same  means,  laying  aside  the 
love  of  law  and  the  law  of  love ;  making  the  tem- 
poral prosperity  of  Israel  the  only  concern  of  His 
life,  and  physical  force  instead  of  moral  suasion  the 
means  b}-  wliich  to  attain  it,  tlie  jews  would  not 
have  crucified  but  would  have  crowned  Him.  lie- 
lieving  this,  we  can  not  but  believe  that  the  people 
who  were  so  anxious  to  release  the  chief  would  glad- 


112  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

ly,  were  it  in  their  power,  have  released  his  asso- 
ciates also.  The  most  reasonable  way,  therefore, 
of  accounting-  for  the  crucifixion  of  these  two  thieves 
is  by  reminding  ourselves  that  Pilate  had  been  prac- 
tically forced  to  crucify  Jesus,  and  now  gladly 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  avenge  him- 
self on  the  Jews  by  crucifying  these  two  national 
patriots.  It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind,  however,  that 
though  Pilate  nominally  carried  out  the  law  and 
condemned  them,  yet  in  reality  it  was  their  own 
characters  that  crucified  them.  The  law  condemned 
them,  but  their  lawlessness  crucified  them.  So  far, 
the  lives  of  these  two  thieves  had  blended  together 
and  apparently  no  discord  had  ever  existed.  But 
on  Calvary  the  harmony  was  destroyed  and  the 
similar  became  essentially  dissimilar.  The  only  ex- 
planation of  the  change  is  that  Jesus  Christ  had 
come  between  them.  One  was  crucified  on  the 
rieht,  the  other  on  the  left  of  the  Saviour.  It  is 
difficult  to  decide,  regarding  the  crosses  on  Calvary, 
which  was  on  the  right  and  which  was  on  the  left. 
But  if  the  penitent  thief  was  then  on  the  left,  he  has 
been  on  the  right  ever  since ;  right  side  of  truth 
and  life,  right  side  of  the  Saviour's  love,  right  side 
of  immortality  and  glory,  and  the  right  side  of  Heav- 
en— the  inside.  The  great  change  in  the  characters 
and  conditions  of  these  men  is  but  the  result  of  the 


'I'lIF.     rilRKK    CROSSES.  IT3 

(lilTcrLMit  inllucncc  the  life  and  death  of  Christ  liad 
upon  tlieni.  How  differently  they  spent  their  hist 
liours  on  earth.  One  wept  because  of  the  ingrati- 
tude of  his  life ;  the  other  hardened  his  heart.  One 
declared  the  Saviour's  innocency,  while  the  other 
despised  Him.  One  received,  the  other  rejected 
the  Redeemer.  One  blessed,  the  other  blasphemed 
Emmanuel.  This  is  why  one  died  receiving,  the 
other  losing  life, — the  different  relation  in  which 
they  stood  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  contrary  effect  which 
the  person  and  atoning  work  of  Christ  had  upon 
them.  This  is  always  so.  Men  that  w^ere  alike  ii]) 
to  the  time  they  entered  the  Saviour's  presence  and 
were  introduced  to  Divine  Love  have  become 
essentially  different  in  mind  and  in  heart,  in  thought 
and  in  life.  This  must  always  be  so.  It  is  impera- 
tive that  men  be  impressed  and  influenced  by  Im- 
manucl.  They  can  not  be  better  or  worse  because 
they  have  come  into  contact  with  Him.  They  will 
be  better  or  worse  according  to  the  manner  in  which 
they  will  treat  Him.  Men  must  rise  or  fall,  accord- 
ing to  their  conception  of  Christ.  Every  man  must 
reject  or  receive  the  Redeemer,  crucify  or  crown 
Christ.  Neutrality  is  imp()ssil)le.  He  must  be  the 
life  or  death  of  every  man,  and  He  will  be  to  man 
what  man  makes  Him  to  be.  \Vc  determine  what 
He  shall  be  to   us,  in   deciding   what  we   will   be   to 


114  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

Him.  Receive  Him,  and  He  is  your  Redeemer; 
reject  Him,  and  He  will  be  your  destroyer  and 
death.  Thus  it  proved  to  be  in  the  case  of  the  char- 
acters now  under  consideration.  The  one  died  re- 
ceiving, the  other  losing  life.  Each  lost  his  natural 
life  because  he  loved  it  and  sought  to  save  it,  with- 
out remembering  that  "  whosoever  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it ;  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  My 
sake  shall  find  it. ' '  Practically,  these  men  com- 
mitted suicide,  for  their  untimely  death  was  but  the 
result  of  a  wasted  life.  Sins  are  punished  in  this 
life,  and  although  a  man  receive  forgiveness  for  his 
transgression,  yet  he  is  forced  to  suffer  the  inevitable 
punishment  inflicted  by  Nature  upon  those  who 
violate  her  laws.  God  will  forgive,  but  Nature — 
never.  The  penitent  thief,  although  he  believed  in 
Christ  and  was  saved  from  the  moral  consequences 
of  his  sin,  yet  had  to  suffer  the  physical  conse- 
quences thereof.  This  in  itself  is  a  strong  reason 
against  delaying  repentance  until  the  day  of  death, 
for  while  we  sin  we  hasten  on  that  day.  It  is  sadly 
true  that  many  act  as  if  the  King  of  Terrors  moved 
too  slow,  and  through  sin  they  hasten  on  his  ap- 
proach. Even  in  the  article  of  death  the  impenitent 
thief  rushed  on  impetuously,  as  if  eager  to  embrace 
the  second  death.  Thus  he  died  losing  life,  and  as 
his  loss  of  eternal  life  is  typical  of  the  way  in  which 


THE    THREE    CROSSES.  I  15 

every  sinner  luses  it,  we  are  anxious  to  in(|iiire  how 
he  lost  it,  and  this  brin^i^-s  us  to  consider 

I.        THE    CROSS    OF    SELFISHNESS. 

The  sad  death  of  this  man  is  but  the  sequel  of  self- 
ishness, which  indeed  is  the  secret  source  of  all  the 
sorrows,  suffering  and  shame  of  society.  Selfishness 
is  the  soil  out  of  which  springs  all  sin.  It  is  the  root 
of  evil  and  the  bane  of  life.  This  man  died  /osi/ij^r 
lifc\  because  selfishness  inevitably  works  out  its  own 
self-destruction.  It  was  possible  for  him  to  save  his 
life  even  while  in  the  agony  of  death,  and  though  he 
died  yet  to  live  again.  He  had  every  advantage  neces- 
sary to  know  the  way  of  salvation.  He  saw  the  Son  of 
God  in  the  act  of  sacrificing  Himself  on  the  altar  of 
love  to  save  sinners.  In  the  presence  of  holiness 
he  could  not  but  realize  his  own  depravity.  In  the 
face  of  the  self-sacrifice  of  Jesus  could  he  less 
than  be  cognizant  of  the  selfishness  of  his  own  soul? 
Compared  with  the  depth  of  Christ's  love,  how 
shallow  was  his  life!  The  evidences  of  Christ's 
Messiahship  within  his  reach  were  of  a  more  con- 
vincing character  than  those  which  converted  his 
comrade  in  crime.  The  strongest  proof  of  Christ's 
Divinity  and  Christianity's  choice  credential  is  the 
salvation  of  a  soul.  Therefore  the  most  undeniable, 
imperishable   and   convincing  evidence    that  Jesus 


Il6  GLIMPSES    OF    nOD, 

was  the  Christ  was  in  this  man's  possession.  He 
was  an  eyewitness  of  the  power  of  Christ  to  save,  for 
he  saw  one  snatched  as  a  brand  from  the  burning, 
and  was  privileged  to  behold  his  soul  blossom  into 
virtue  and  love  at  the  living  touch  of  the  Lord  of 
Life.  He  heard  the  beautiful  and  tender  words  in 
which  Christ  responded  to  the  faith -of  the  penitent 
as  expressed  in  the  request  "  Remember  me. "  He 
heard  all  the  words  which  fell  from  the  Saviour's 
lips  while  dying  for  the  sin  of  the  world — words 
that  have  converted  millions  of  men ; — words  which 
express  His  relation  to  the  world  that  He  was  leav- 
in2f,  and  to  the  world  into  which  He  was  entering; — 
words  so  fraught  with  all-conquering  love  as  to 
eternally  declare  Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the 
Saviour  of  men.  He  listened  to  those  words,  so 
simple  yet  so  sublime,  so  full  of  calm  courage  and 
confidence  as  to  form  a  firm  foundation  for  faith. 
Moreover,  the  penitent  thief,  while  expressing  his 
belief  in  Christ's  innocence,  indirectly  endeavored 
to  bring  him  to  repentance  and  to  trust  in  Christ  for 
life.  The  reason  that  this  man  lost  life  was  not 
because  he  had  fallen  out  of  the  reach  of  divine 
mercy;  not  because  light  on  his  own  condition  and 
Christ's  compassion  was  inaccessible ;  not  because 
he  had  sinned  too  long,  although  it  was  the  eleventh 
hour,  but  because  he  refused  life  on  the  only  condi- 


THE    THRF.F.    CROSSES.  TI 


tion  (iod  could  ^rive  it.  He  ignored  the  proffered 
salvation,  and  blasphemed  tlKroaviour.  He  not 
only  sinned  in  the  dark,  but/refused  to  repent  in  the 
light.  He  was  condemned  notlSet^vuse  he  had  not 
sought  the  Saviour,  but  because  he  refused  to  love 
for  his  life,  the  Life  of  Love.  This  man  lost  life, 
while  his  companion  in  crime,  who  had  sinned  as 
much  and  as  long,  and  had  fallen  as  low  as  he, 
sought  and  found  life.  Thus,  the  penitent  con- 
demns the  impenitent.  This  loss  of  life  was  volun- 
tary, therefore  criminal.  Like  all  men  who  are 
lost,  he  simply  refused  to  be  saved.  No  man  is 
ever  lost  for  any  other  reason.  Thus  he  perished, 
and  that  in  Calvary.  Near  the  Saviour's  cross, 
within  the  sound  of  His  voice,  in  sight  of  His  self- 
sacrifice,  he  lost  life.  In  Calvary,  where  life  is 
found  and  freely  offered  to  all,  he  courted  death. 
Calvary,  the  birthplace  of  the  saint,  became  to  him 
the  deathplace  of  the  sinner.  In  Calvary,  where 
Emmanuel  the  Emperor  of  iMnancipation  was  en- 
throned, and  where  He  established  His  empire,  this 
man  sold  his  soul  to  the  eternal  slavery  of  selfish- 
ness, sin  and  Satan.  Near  the  fountain  of  life,  he 
drank  the  poison  of  eternal  death.  While  the 
world's  Redeemer  opened  the  door  of  salvation  to 
all  wilbng  to  l)e  saved,  while  his  companion  in  life 
and  death  repented,  believed  and  found  Hfc  ctei'nal, 


Il8  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

while  the  news  was  being  carried  by  the  angels  to 
the  Heavenly  Jerusalem,  he  blasphemed  and  died. 
Thus,  he  became  reproached  of  men  and  condemned 
of  God.  His  name  has  become  a  signal  of  death  and 
of  destruction,  one  of  the  finger  posts  on  Hell's  high- 
way, and  a  lighthouse  on  crime's  cliffs.  Angels  wept 
because  of  his  ruin, devils  gloried  in  his  destruction. 
Men,  moved  by  human  sympathy  with  the  perish- 
ing, would  leave  him  to  the  compassion  of  Christ, 
and  draw  the  veil  over  his  sad  end,  saying  sadly, 
"  He  is  gone."  Gone  —  but  where?  Gone  —  but 
how?  These  are  questions  which  the  Judgment 
Day  shall  answer.  Therefore,  do  we  hold  our  peace. 
This  man's  life  and  death  give  us  a  perfect  portrayal 
of  the  history  of  every  unbeliever.  All  men  who 
are  lost  in  Christendom  are  lost  in  the  same  way,  in 
the  same  place,  and  for  the  same  reason.  He  is  a 
perfect  representative,  all  in  all,  of  unbelievers. 
Whatever  may  be  a  man's  reason  for  rejecting 
Christianity,  for  refusing  salvation,  his  condition, 
character  and  crime  are  practically  the  same  as  that 
of  the  impenitent  thief.  Men  will  challenge  this, 
and  while  they  shudder  and  say,  "  Shame  "  when 
they  see  the  sad,  sorrowful  sequel  of  selfishness, 
yet  they  refuse  to  recognize  the  reproduction  of  the 
impenitent  thief  in  themselves.  If  you  dare  sug- 
gest the  thing,  they  will   treat  you   with  contempt. 


THE    THREF.    CROSSES.  ITQ 

and  settle  the  subject  with  silent  scorn.  Oh  man, 
thou  shalt  have  all  the  fair  play  possible,  for  thou 
wilt  need  it  all.  Thou  shalt  be  thine  own  jud<(e 
and  advocate.  Where  is  the  picture  overdrawn? 
What  has  been  mentioned  respecting  this  thy  rep- 
resentative, which  is  not  strictly  true  concerning 
thee?  Dost  thou  claim  that  thou  art  not  dishonest, 
in  that  thou  obeyest  the  laws  of  the  land  and  art  ac- 
counted just  of  men  ?  Thou  didst  not  create  thy- 
self: thy  life,  therefore,  is  not  thine  own.  In  living 
for  self  thou  dost  rob  humanity  and  Heaven.  Dost 
say  thou  art  no  murderer?  In  refusing  salvation, 
thou  dost  voluntarily  sell  and  seal  thy  soul  for  the 
second  death.  Is  not  this  the  greatest  of  all  murders? 
Dost  claim  thy  reason  is  not  dethroned?  What 
is  sin  but  moral  madness?  Not  to  understand  our 
duty  toward  man  and  God;  not  to  realize  the  true 
end  of  life;  not  to  obey  the  highest  and  profound- 
est  instincts  of  the  soul,  is  foolishness  without  a  fel- 
low in  the  fertile  field  of  folly.  Where,  then,  is  thy 
wisdom?  Is  it  seen  in  being  blindly  led  by  thy 
passions  to  the  perilous  precipice  over  which  thou- 
sands of  souls  have  been  hurled  to  hell?  Dost  claim 
thou  art  no  blasphemer?  What  is  greater  blas- 
phemy than  to  acknowledge  the  Saviour's  right  to 
the  soul,  and  yet  refuse  to  serve  Him;  sympathiz- 
inu'  with   Christ's  suffering's,  vet  sinful   and  selfish 


T20  (HJAIPSES    OF    GOD. 

cnoug-h,  in  order  to  satisfy  thy  sensuous  soul,  to 
pieree  afresh  His  saered  side?  What  g-reater  bhis- 
phemy  tlian  to  promise  to  i^ive  thyself  to  Christ 
when  in  the  hands  of  death,  powerless  to  help  or 
hinder  virtue's  victory?  Art  thou  not  eondemned 
and  crucified?  Does  not  thy  conscience  condemn 
thee,  and  thy  sins  crucify  thee?  If  not  crucified, 
then  art  thou  free,  but  thy  hands  and  feet  are  nailed 
to  Satan's  cross  of  selfishness,  and  none  but  Christ 
can  free  thee.  Thy  character  is  criminal,  the  cru- 
cial crisis  of  thy  career  has  come.  Thou  art  yet  in 
Calvary,  the  only  place  where  salvation  is  possible. 
Thou  art  near  the  cross  of  Christ.  Thou  hast  seen 
the  Saviour  suffering-,  hast  seen  His  torn  brow  and 
wounded  side,  but  thou  art  unconcerned.  Inani- 
mate creation  is  convulsed  with  compassion  for  the 
Christ  so  cruelly  crucified.  The  sun  becomes 
ashamed  of  his  own  brightness,  and  rather  than 
look  upon  his  Creator  crushed,  veils  himself  with 
dark  clouds  and  hides  in  shame.  The  rugged 
rocks,  adamantine  hard,  break  their  hearts  and  rend 
in  twain  at  the  sight  of  the  Rock  of  Ages — cleft. 
The  grave  can  not  keep  its  own  when  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life  become  the  death  of  death.  Every- 
thing is  full  of  interest  in  the  atonement  of  the 
cross,  save  unbelieying  man.  Thy  companions  who 
were   condemned   and  crucified   on  the  same  cruel 


lirK     IIIREK    CROSSES.  I2T 

cross  Ikivc  repented  and  believed,  and  liave  been 
freed  by  tlie  i;reat  Emancipator  of  souls.  Tliou 
hast  seen  the  nails  taken  out  of  tlieir  enjss,  their 
bonds  broken.  Thou  liast  witnessed  the  expressions 
of  joy  which  flooded  their  faces.  Thou  hast  heard 
the  shout  of  hallelujah  which  fell  from  their  lips. 
In  love  they  have  pleaded  with  thee  and  sou^i>-ht  to 
bring-  thee  to  repentance,  but  thou  art  still  unorate- 
ful,  unbelieving  and  unmoved.  This  but  drives  the 
tiails  deeper  into  thy  cross.  Thou  art  despising  sal- 
vation, yea  refusing  life,  in  the  only  place,  in  the 
only  way,  in  which  (yod  Himself  can  give  it.  Be 
reconciled,  then,  to  (xod.  Haste  to  make  Christ  thy 
friend.  There  is  danger  and  death  in  delay.  Re- 
member, this  is  a  fair  average:  For  each  one  who 
secures  life  in  the  eleventh  hour,  another  fails.  The 
impenitent  thief  failed  to  find  life.  Follow  not  in 
his  footsteps,  lest  death  be  the  fruit  of  thy  folly,  and 
thou  suffer  the  greatest  downfall  possible  in  the 
moral    universe    of    God;  from    Calvary  to — Hell. 

II.        THE    CROSS    OF    SELF-SURRENDER. 

Self-surrender  and  self-denial  are  supreme  condi- 
tions of  spiritual  life.  They  are  the  secrets  of  spir- 
itual sight,  strength  and  salvation.  This  man  died 
JiiidiiiX'  life.  While  fast  losing  his  natural  life, 
he    souglit    and    fouud    eternal    life.      Wliile    being 


122  (iLlMPSEP    OF    GOD. 

robbed  of  the  former,  he  was  rewarded  with  the  lat- 
ter. The  death  of  his  body  declared  the  triumph 
of  evil ;  the  life  of  his  spirit  declared  the  triumph  of 
Emmanuel.  Thus,  like  every  saint,  he  became  liv- 
ing to  God  as  he  died  to  the  world.  He  received 
life  because  he  fulfilled  in  Christ  all  the  conditions 
of  salvation. 

(a)  His  repentance  ivas  real  and  remorseful.  He 
acknowledged  his  guilt,  the  justice  of  his  condem- 
nation, and  changed  for  the  better  in  reference  to 
the  Saviour,  sin,  society  and  self.  This  is  always 
the  first  fruit,  as  well  as  the  final  test,  of  the  reality 
of  repentance.  This  man  learned  to  look  upon  his 
own  life  in  the  true  light,  because  he  considered  it 
in  the  light  of  Christ's  life.  He  saw  the  folly,  the 
faithlessness  and  the  failure  of  his  life.  He  realized 
the  precious  privileges  and  opportunities  he  had 
lost,  the  valuable  time  he  had  wasted,  and  the 
wealth  of  love  he  had  slighted.  This  created  true 
contrition  in  his  soul,  and  forced  him  to  Christ  for 
forgiveness. 

{b)  His  faith  was  niigJity  and  living.  He  be- 
lieved in  Christ  when  everybody  else  appeared  to 
disbelieve.  Although  the  disciples  had  left  Jesus, 
and  the  religious  teachers  of  His  own  nation  re- 
jected and  ridiculed  His  claims,  yet  this  man 
believed  in   Him.      He  received   Him  as  his  King, 


THE    TIT  REE    CROSSES.  1 23 

though  He  had  not  yet  come  into  His  king-dom. 
He  looked  upon  Him  as  the  Prince  of  Life  when  in 
the  article  of  deatli.  He  believed  in  Him  as  a  Sav- 
iour when  slain,  and  the  Mcssiali  wlien  murdered. 
His  faith  was  intelligent,  for  he  gathered  all  the 
evidences  within  his  reach  concerning  the  super- 
human in  the  Saviour,  weighed  them  and  found 
tliat  they  were  strong  enough  to  convince  him  of 
His  ^lessiahship.  He  looked  upon  His  calm  cour- 
age, divine  dignity,  pathetic  patience,  changeless 
charity,  saving  sympathy,  sacred  sorrow,  loving  life 
and  living  love,  sublime  simplicity  and  sanguine, 
spiritual  serenity,  amidst  the  storm  of  sorrow  and 
suffering  in  the  stronghold  of  sin.  He  listened  to 
His  intercession  for  His  enemies  when  he  said, 
"  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what 
the}' do. "  He  saw  that  He  lived  and  died  in  har- 
mony with  His  principles  of  love.  Unitedly  these 
things  formed  an  irresistible  argument  to  the  mind 
of  the  penitent,  that  Jesus  was  the  "  Christ.  "  What 
convinced  this  man  is,  in  reality,  evermore  the  great 
proof  of  His  Divinity.  No  miracle  more  clearly 
manifests  it,  no  words  more  lovingly  express  it  than 
the  death  of  the  cross. 

(r)  Ills  love  7iurs  sti'ou^i^'  atui  cJiaiii^clcss.  He 
loved  Christ  sufficiently  to  disregard  all  else  in 
order  to  serve  Him.      He  well   knew  that  lo  declare 


124  C.TJMPSES    OF    COD. 

his  belief  in  the  Saviour  was  to  estal^lish  hatred  be- 
tween himself  and  his  nation,  and  also  forfeit  the 
eommon  bond  of  sympathy  whieh  existed  between 
him  and  his  fellow-thief.  This  required  strength  of 
soul,  eourag-e  of  conviction  and  a  sacrificing  spirit. 
His  prayer  was  full  of  faith  and  love — "  Lord,  re- 
member me  when  Thou  comest  into  Thy  kingdom.  " 
A  short  but  a  strong  prayer;  a  humble  yet  a  high 
and  holy  petition.  Prayers  are  measured  and 
valued,  not  by  length,  but  by  breadth  and  depth. 
This  petition  contains  all  that  man  can  desire  for 
time  and  for  eternity,  and  all  that  God  can  give. 
He  struck  the  keynote  in  the  anthem  of  happiness, 
hope  and  holiness  when  he  desired  to  be  lovingh^ 
remembered  by  the  Lord  of  Life.  The  answer 
wliich  Christ  gave  proved  the  value  of  this  prayer, 
and  His  appreciation  of  the  love  and  faith  that 
prompted  it.  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in 
Paradise."  Christ  never  bore  a  clearer  witness  to 
His  own  Divinity  than  He  did  while  dying.  These 
are  surely  the  words  of  a  conqueror  and  not  the  con- 
quered. He  recognizes  and  reveals,  in  the  "  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death, ' '  that  "  all  authority  is  given 
to  Him  in  Lleaven  and  on  earth,"  and  that  He  has 
"the  keys  of  death  and  Hell."  Thus,  He  is  the 
ruler  of  all  worlds  and  the  Prince  of  Paradise.  Of 
all  death  scenes,  this  is  the  most  ideal.      There  is  a 


T]]V.    'I'TIRRE    CROSSES. 


125 


combinatiun  of  thini^'S  which  make  it  so.  He  died 
while  servino-  the  Saviour.  He  died  like  the  Re- 
deemer, in  the  same  manner,  at  the  same  time,  in 
the  same  phice.  The  death  of  Moses  was  very  beau- 
tiful, dyino-  alone  but  with  God,  far  removed  from 
everything  that  made  death  hard ;  passing  from  a 
glimpse  of  the  earthly  Canaan  into  the  Heavenly 
Canaan.  An  ideal  death,  surely.  But  of  all  deaths 
this  is  the  grandest  in  the  annals  of  history;  going 
arm  in  arm  with  Christ  through  the  "  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death,"  and  entering  into  glory  together. 
What  inexpressible  privilege  to  be  introduced  by 
Emmanuel  into  His  own  empire.  This  is  the  in- 
heritance of  every  soul  that  has  surrendered  to  the 
Saviour.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  every  saint  dies 
with  the  Saviour,  and  in  which  the  Saviour  dies  with 
every  saint.  He  goes  through  the  death  struggle 
with  His  disciples.  The  penitent  thief  loved  Christ 
sufficiently  to  spend  his  last  moments  in  serving 
Him,  in  declaring  His  innocency,  and  in  winning 
others  to  think  favorably  of  Christ.  This  is  the  only 
acceptable  service,  all  that  Christ  requires,  and  all 
that  man  can  give.  To  live  only  to  love  is  the  law 
of  life.  It  is  impossible  to  realize  the  depth  of  this 
man's  love  unless  we  remember  that,  while  suffer- 
ing the  most  excruciating  pains  in  the  anguish  and 
agony  of  death,  he   is   all  forgetful  of  himself  but 


126  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

ever  mindful  of  the  Master.  This  is  why  he  re- 
ceived life.  He  possessed  all  the  excellencies  of  the 
Christian  character  in  germ,  if  not  in  growth.  He 
was  noble  and  true.  As  soon  as  he  was  convinced 
of  the  Saviour's  innocency  and  of  his  own  guilt, 
without  hesitancy  he  bears  testimony  to  both  facts 
before  the  world.  He  had  not  only  faith  in  prin- 
ciple but  also  in  practice.  He  was  brave  and  de- 
voted. In  the  face  of  all  foes,  when  the  battle  was 
fiercest  and  the  danger  greatest,  when  fiends  in 
fury  cried,  ' '  Victory  now  or  never, ' '  when  the  fierce 
fire  of  fanaticism  in  frenzy  flamed,  when  the  Sav- 
ioiir  suffered  in  solitude  while  struggling  for  suprem- 
acy, he  pressed  to  the  front  of  the  battle  and 
acknowledged  Him  King.  He  was  sympathetic  and 
loving,  not  only  with  Christ,  but  with  his  fellow- 
thief.  Like  every  Christian,  he  could  not  keep  the 
truth  to  himself,  but,  as  the  sim  gives  light  and  life, 
so  did  this  man  offer  his  light  to  lead  his  comrade  to 
Christ,  imtil  his  life  burnt  out  in  death.  All  his 
words,  from  his  conversion  to  his  death,  are  full  of 
love.  These  elements  in  character  are  God's  de- 
light. Christ  honors  the  man  in  whom  they  are 
found.  The  penitent  thief  not  only  received  eter- 
nal life,  but  his  name  has  been  immortalized  because 
of  his  attachment  to  and  love  for  the  Saviour.  His 
services  were  sanctioned  and  sanctified  by  the  Sav- 


THE    THREE    CROSSES.  1 27 

ionr,  and  sealed  witli  sueeess.  The  robber  was  re- 
formed and  made  a  revealer  of  rig'hteousness;  the 
plunderer  was  made  a  preaeher  of  the  prineiples  of 
the  Prinee  of  Peaee.  His  rag-s  w^ere  ehanged  for  the 
robes  which  the  g-lorified  wear.  He  who  was  too  de- 
graded to  live  with  men  in  the  morning,  through 
the  mighty  power  of  grace  at  noon  became  pure  and 
g-lorified  enough  to  be  the  personal  companion  of 
the  i)eerless  King  of  glory  in  Paradise.  His  sorrow 
was  turned  into  joy,  his  weeping  into  a  song,  his 
death  unto  life,  and  from  the  cross  he  was  led  to 
wear  a  crown,  to  join  the  happy  band  who  have 
washed  their  robes  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  to 
enjoy  the  inexpressible  privilege  of  being  introduced 
to  the  realities  of  the  eternal  world — yea,  and  to 
God,  by  Christ,  as  the  first  fruit  and  proof  of  the 
magnetic  power  of  the  cross.  This  man's  conver- 
sion was  no  greater  miracle  than  any  ordinary  con- 
version. God's  laws  are  the  same  to  all.  Pie  is  no 
"  respecter  of  persons. "  The  conditions  of  salva- 
tion are  the  same  for  all  men,  at  all  times.  Then 
all  may  hope  and  none  need  despair.  Let  no  man 
think  because  the  penitent  thief  was  saved  in  the 
eleventh  hour  that  deathbed  salvation  is  easy. 
Without  question  this  man's  struggle  was  a  hard 
one,  and  he  who  has  not  strength  of  conviction  suffi- 
cient to  seek  salvation  when  physically  strong  will 


T2b  OLi:\rPSES    OF    GOD. 

in  all  probability  fail  to  find  it  when  becoming-  too 
weak  to  live.  Let  all  who  would  find  life,  and 
though  they  die,  live  evermore,  self -surrender  them- 
selves to  the  Saviour,  serve  Him  with  such  loyal 
love,  sincerity  of  spirit,  completeness  of  character, 
as  the  impenitent  thief,  from  their  conversion  to 
their  death,  and  they  also  shall  be  glorified  in  the 
eternal  presence  of  Christ  in  glory. 

III.        THE    CROSS    OF     SELF-SACRIFICE. 

Jesus  Christ,  whose  life  was  perfect,  whose  char- 
acter to  man  was  righteous  and  to  God  holy,  whose 
words  were  full  of  grace  and  truth,  who  was  tender 
yet  just,  merciful  yet  righteous,  of  His  own  free 
will  laid  down  His  life  for  others.  The  Infinite  in 
mind,  yet  lowly  in  heart,  the  most  despised  yet  the 
most  charitable,  the  One  most  hated  yet  the  One 
most  loving,  who  though  rich  yet  became  poor  that 
man  through  His  poverty  might  be  made  rich,  laid 
down  His  life  for  others.  The  author  of  joy,  yet  a 
man  of  sorrows,  who  spent  His  life  to  do  good  to  the 
men  who  spent  theirs  to  do  Him  evil,  laid  down  His 
life  for  others.  He  blessed  those  that  cursed  Him, 
loved  those  who  hated  Him,  prayed  for  those  who 
crucified  Him,  and  died  for  those  who  sought  His 
life.  Thus  He  lived  and  died  for  His  enemies,  living 
to  give  life,  dying  to  destroy  death.     This  is  self. 


THF.     IIIKF.F.    CROSSES.  1 29 

sacrifice.  The  death  of  Jesus  Christ  was  vuhintary; 
He  died  of  His  own  free  will.  Thoui^rh  Pilate  con- 
demned Him  to  death,  yet  it  was  love  that  crucified 
Him  and  riveted  Him  to  the  cross.  He  died  be- 
cause He  was  strong  enough  not  to  live;  man  dies 
because  he  is  too  weak  not  to  die.  Jesus  alone  was 
strong  enough  to  die;  other  men  die  because  they 
are  too  weak  to  live.  He  loved  enough  to  die  that 
those  whom  He  loved  might  live.  He  could  not 
"save  Himself,"  because  He  had  determined  to 
save  others.  Love  alone  made  it  imperative  that 
He  should  die.  Self-sacrificing  love  is  the  secret  of 
all  that  the  Saviour  suffered.  The  sorrow  of  the 
Sinless,  because  of  sin,  culminated  in  the  self-sacri- 
fice of  the  Saviour  for  the  sinner.  Self-sacrifice  was 
at  once  both  the  condition  and  the  crown  of  Christ's 
suffering.  His  kingdom  is  founded  on  self-sacrifice. 
In  death  He  established  His  kingly  right,  and  His 
cross  led  to  the  crown.  Without  the  cross,  Christ 
would  have  been  without  the  crown.  It  was 
through  the  cross  of  self-sacrifice  that  Christ  van- 
(^uished  vice  and  gave  virtue  the  victory.  The 
cross  of  Christ  is  truth's  trophy,  virtue's  victory, 
love's  life  and  God's  glory.  The  cross  of  Christ  is 
the  best  exposition  possible  on  His  life.  The  light 
of  His  life  would  have  blinded  men  with  its  very 
brilliancy,  had  it  not  been   for  the   shadow  of  the 


130  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

cross.  Men  would  never  have  understood  the  life 
of  Christ  had  it  not  been  for  the  explanation  which 
His  death  gave  of  it.  The  world  would  never  have 
learned  the  lesson  which  for  three  3^ears  He  had 
been  so  busily  enforcing  in  His  life— self-sacrifice 
as  the  law  of  life — had  it  not  been  for  the  full  ex- 
emplification of  it  made  in  His  death.  He  had 
taught  that  he  who  would  save  his  life  must  lose  it, 
but  the  human  heart  could  never  have  understood 
His  meaning,  save  in  the  light  of  the  triumph  of  re- 
deeming love  in  Christ's  self-sacrifice.  He  taught 
men  to  forgive  their  enemies,  but  what  man  could 
have  believed  in  the  possibility  of  such  a  miracle  of 
love,  had  it  not  been  for  the  prayer,  "Father,  forgive 
them."  The  glorious  achievements  of  Christ's 
cross  of  self-sacrifice  alone  could  have  moved  men 
to  embrace  the  principle  of  self-sacrifice  as  the  con- 
dition and  crown  of  all  life.  Nothing  could  have 
more  perfectly  illustrated  his  character  and  life,  in 
principle  and  in  aim,  than  His  heroic  death.  The 
victory  for  which  He  lived  could  not  have  been  se- 
cured, save  by  His  own  virtuous  ddath.  The  cross 
of  Christ  satisfied  the  moral  law  by  meeting  its 
claims  and  increased  its  influence  b}"  proving  its  im- 
portance, the  justice  of  its  demands  and  the  possibil- 
ity of  giving  it  absolute  obedience.  The  Author  of 
the   law  came  imder  the  law  and  satisfied  the  law, 


THF.     rilKKF.    IROSSKS.  I3T 

The  cross  of  Christ  revealed  the  true  character  of 
(iod  as  the  just  yet  merciful,  ri^^-hteous  yet  lox-ini;- 
I^'ather.  It  formed  a  new  link  between  the  heart  of 
humanity  and  the  heart  of  holiness.  The  cross  of 
Christ  means  for  man  reconciliation,  re<j;-eneration, 
redemption.  It  has  ^i^iven  man  a  new  conception  of 
duty,  manward  and  Godward,  and  a  new  induce- 
ment to  philanthropy  and  self-denial.  The  cross  is 
the  Saviour's  sermon  on  self -sacrifice,  as  the  secret 
of  spiritual  strength  and  supremacy  over  selfishness 
and  sin.  Self-sacrifice  is  not  only  the  principle  on 
which  life  through  Christ  is  possible  to  man,  but 
also  the  principle  on  which  life  in  Christ  is  possible 
to  man.  Self-sacrifice  is  not  only  the  condition  on 
which  Christ  gives  His  life  for  man,  but  also  the 
condition  on  which  man  can  give  his  life  to  Christ. 
Through  self-sacrifice  Christ  lived  like  man  ;  through 
self-sacrifice  man  lives  like  Christ.  In  self-sacrifice 
Christ  loved  and  lived  for  men;  in  self-sacrifice  men 
love  and  live  for  Christ.  Thus,  Jesus  Christ  died 
not  only  as  an  atonement  for  our  sin,  but  as  an  ex- 
ample and  inspiration  for  our  life.  He  is  (3ur  great 
ideal,  and  all  who  would  secure  the  victory  over  sin 
and  self  must  learn  to  dcnv  themselves,  as  He  did, 
and  ever  honor  tlic  law  of  self-sacrifice.  We  need 
not  be  crucified  literally  as  He  was,  but  we  must 
crucify  all  self  and   be  in  truth  crucified  to  all  sin  if 


T32  r,T, t:\ipses  of  hod. 

we  would  secure  the  crown  of  sanctification.  The 
way  of  the  cross  alone  is  the  way  of  the  crown. 
There  is  no  royal  road  save  the  royal  road  of  love 
and  self-sacrifice.  He  who  would  wear  the  crown 
must  bear  the  cross;  he  that  would  reign  with  the 
Saviour  must  with  the  Saviour  suffer.  Self-sacri- 
fice is  the  secret  of  sanctification.  Every  Christian, 
therefore,  has  his  cross  and  the  life  of  every  believer 
has  its  Calvary.  In  Calvary  every  Christian  is  cru- 
cified and  glorified.  There  his  cross  is  uplifted, 
there  he  is  uplifted  on  his  cross,  and  uplifted  through 
his  cross.  There  his  body  is  torn,  his  side  pierced 
and  the  nature  of  his  soul  revealed.  There  he  bows 
his  head  for  death  to  crown  him,  dies  for  his  prin- 
ciples of  love,  and  signs  and  seals  with  his  blood 
God's  right  to  his  soul.  There,  he  commences  and 
succeeds  to  live,  by  dying,  and  learns  to  find  his  life 
b)^  losing  it.  The  Calvary  of  every  soul  is  the  place 
where  the  crown  is  gained  through  the  cross.  This 
hour  of  crucifixion  is  the  most  solemn  and  sacred  of 
any  life.  It  is  the  hour  of  suffering,  the  hour  of 
solitude,  the  hour  of  spiritual  sorrow,  the  hour 
of  self-sacrifice,  3"ea — the  hour  of  death,  the  hour 
when  Hell  has  to  be  conquered  and  Heaven  and 
holiness  attained.  It  is  not  strange  that  every  soul 
sweats,  as  it  were,  drops  of  blood  in  Gethsemane, 
when    Calvary   looms    in    the    distance.      It    is    not 


THE     THkKK    CROSSES.  I33 

stran^i4:c  when  men  arc  thus  moved  to  the  depths  of 
their  ])ein«4-  under  tlie  shadow  of  the  cross,  their 
souls  sorrowful  unto  death,  that  in  a^'ony  of  spirit 
they  cry  out,  "If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
by ;  "  nor  yet  strang-e,  having  received  strength  from 
God,  to  hear  them  say,  "  Th}'  will,  not  mine,  be 
done."  Thus  while  there  is  a  sense  in  which  Christ 
in  death  made  atonement  for  sin  and  tasted  death 
for  every  man,  and  thus  died  in  a  manner  impossible 
to  any  man,  yet  there  is  a  sense  in  which,  through 
self-sacrifice,  man  lives  again  the  life  of  Christ  and 
dies  again  the  death  of  the  cross.  Through  self- 
sacrifice  the  Christian  is  crucified  together  with 
Christ,  and  with  Christ  shall  be  glorified.  He  who 
would  know  the  true  end  of  life,  let  the  cross  of 
Christ  inform  him.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  like  the 
vigil  eye  of  God,  guiding  and  guarding  the  soul 
along  the  rough  road  of  self-sacrifice,  to  the  heart 
of  holiness  and  Heaven.  He  who  wants  inspiration 
for  strength  and  self-denial  in  the  sacred  service  of 
love,  let  him  breathe  the  spirit  of  the  self-sacrificing 
Saviour.  My  brother,  art  thou  downcast  because 
of  difficulties,  despairing  because  of  danger?  Is  thy 
heart  faint  and  the  battle  hard?  Then  comfort  thy- 
self with  the  thought  that  thy  help  is  nigh,  thy 
glory  near.  If  tempted  while  bearing  thy  cross  to 
wonder  what  the  end  will  be,  fix  thy  gaze  on  thy 


134  OT-TMPSES    OF    ODD. 

Saviour's  cross  and  remember  His  victory.  He 
who  does  not  practise  the  principle  of  self-denial, 
obc}^  the  law  of  self -sacri (ice,  strive  to  secure  the 
crown  of  sanctilication  and  the  joy  set  before  him, 
has  in  reality  not  commenced  to  live.  He  is  a 
stranger  to  the  noblest  impulses,  the  highest  hope, 
the  most  sacred  bliss,  and  the  purest  joy  possible 
to  humanity.  He  who  is  moved  by  this  spirit  is 
kept  in  perfect  peace  and  clothed  with  immortal 
glory.  The  everlasting  crown  of  righteousness 
shall  he  wear,  and  when  the  stars  lose  their  light 
and  the  sun  perish  with  cold,  3'et  shall  he  shine  like 
a  star  in  the  peace  and  purity  of  Heaven.  Secure 
the  cross  and  the  crown  is  yoiirs. 


THE  SUCCESS  OF  FAILURE. 

"  Why  seek  ye  the  livinij^  aniont;;  the  (lend?  He  is  not  liere, 
but  is  risen," — Like  24:  5-C. 

The  chapter  of  otir  text  opens  by  introdticing-  the 
"  day,"  the  "  first  day  of  the  week,"  and  the  first 
day  in  the  spiritttal  life  of  the  disciples  after  tlie 
long-  dark  ni<^ht  of  the  crticifixion  of  their  Lord. 
Let  lis  seek  to  realize  the  inexpressible  privileg-e  of 
spending  a  night  in  solemn  solitude  and  eloquent 
silence  upon  one  of  the  majestic  mountains  of  (jod, 
to  witness  the  rising-  of  the  snn.  We  reach  the 
summit  as  the  ''shades  of  night  are  falling  fast." 
The  firmament  is  draping  itself  in  suggestive  black, 
as  if  it  would  wear  appropriate  mourning  apparel. 
How  sad  the  scene,  how  solemn  the  funeral  service. 
We  mingle  our  tears  with  the  dewdrops,  the  tears 
of  night,  for  the  departed  light,  and  with  tlie  night 
we  are  silent  in  the  possession  of  knowledge  too 
sad-sacred  for  speech.  The  eloquence  of  the  day  is 
exchanged  for  the  profound  philosophy  of  the 
night.      With  sadness  and  awe  we  enter  the   temple 


136  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

of  darkness,  where  amidst  the  gathering  gloom,  on 
the  stage  of  solitude  and  silence,  we  witness  night 
impersonating  death.  We  turn  our  eyes  downward. 
How  like  a  grave  is  the  earth !  We  look  around  us. 
How  like  a  shroud  is  the  darkness!  We  gaze  up- 
ward. How  like  the  arched  vault  of  death  is  Heav- 
en's dome!  How  wearily  the  time  drags  on,  but 
how  active  are  those  dark  clouds!  They  move  to- 
gether like  a  trained  army.  Verily,  they  be  war- 
riors of  the  night.  Ever  the  clouds  increase  and 
array  themselves  until  every  star  has  died  out.  All 
lingering  hope  for  the  supremacy  of  light  has  per- 
ished. In  vain  we  fan  the  dying  embers,  their  mo- 
mentary glow  but  makes  the  night  more  hideous. 
Is  not  the  throne  of  night  secure,  its  supremacy  and 
sovereignty  established  and  the  reign  of  darkness 
eternal?  Slowly,  silently  and  sorrowful!}^  the  night 
is  spent  until  the  day  is  at  hand.  What  is  that?  A 
shining  arrow  thrown  by  the  sun-archer  with  his 
bow  of  light  has  pierced  the  heart  of  night,  and  we 
behold  it  bleeding  there  —  nay,  rather  a  pencil  of 
light  with  which  the  sun  writes  in  letters  of  fire 
''  War  "  on  the  dark  scroll  of  the  clouds.  The  port- 
als are  opened  and  from  the  sun's  heart  rushes  a 
flood  of  light,  like  a  noble  army  with  shining,  daz- 
zling spears,  covering  the  heavens  to  do  battle  with 
the  powers  of  darkness.      How  brief  the  fra}^     The 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  I37 

army  of  niju;-ht  is  quickly  routed.  Darkness  retreats. 
Lig-ht  is  hot  in  the  chase  until  the  spoils  of  war  fill 
the  sky.  The  battle  is  over,  and  see  !  the  sun  clothed 
with  the  ^iow  and  .i4lory  of  youth  majestically  as- 
cends his  throne  in  the  heavens,  the  imiversally 
recognized  King  of  Day.  How  regal  his  reign  and 
how  glorious  his  government!  Everything  is  trans- 
formed in  his  presence  and  transfigured  in  his  light. 
A  miracle  of  life  is  wrought  amidst  the  tombs  and 
vaults  of  death.  Everything  is  brimful  of  life. 
The  balmy  breezes  breathe  love.  The  birds  take  up 
their  sweet  interrupted  song  ;  the  flowers  of  the 
held  blush  and  glow  as  they  kiss  and  embrace  the 
warm  rays  of  the  sun.  All  nature  is  like  a  sweet 
instrument,  flooding  the  morning  air  with  sweetest 
music.  Man  receives  his  inspiration;  life  is  sweet 
and  precious;  joy  and  gladness  fill  his  heart,  as  wa- 
ter floods  the  sea  and  fragrance  fills  the  flower. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  a  record  of  the 
strange  experiences  of  the  disciples  in  the  night  of 
soul  they  spent  on  Calvary.  We  find  them,  in  sor- 
rowful silence  and  solitude  of  soul,  witnessing  the 
gathering  gloom.  The  light  of  hope  is  declining, 
the  day  of  faith  is  in  the  agony  of  death,  the  sun  of 
their  life  is  setting  fast.  It  goes  down,  down  as  low 
as  the  grave,  and  they  despair  of  its  ever  rising 
again.      How  gloomy  the  general  aspect!     How  sad 


138  TtUMPSES    of    CrOT). 

the  scene!  How  keen  their  suffering,  sorrowful 
their  hearts,  terror-stricken  their  spirits.  Despair 
is  clearly  written  on  each  feature  and  anguish  fur- 
rows their  soul.  The  life  of  their  life  is  dying; 
their  Saviour  is  slain,  their  God  is  dead.  Can  any 
darkness  be  greater  or  can  the  night  cast  deeper  shad- 
ows ?  They  look  downward.  What  is  the  earth  ? 
A  beautiful  garden.  True,  but  a  garden  with  its 
heart  ripped  open  to  form  a  grave  for  their  Lord. 
They  look  around  them  and  behold  dark  doubt  and 
darker  disbelief  are  busy  preparing  a  grave  for  their 
dead  faith.  The}"  gaze  upward.  What  is  heaven 
but  a  sealed  book,  the  dwelling  place  of  darkness 
and  of  mystery,  which  mocks  them  in  their  despair. 
They  live — nay,  they  but  exist  "  in  the  valley  of  the 
shadow  of  death."  The  night  moves  on,  and  with 
it  they  are  carried  into  greater  darkness.  They  are 
forced  to  stand  by  the  open  grave — 3xa,  to  enter  the 
silent  sepulchre  of  death.  And  oh,  what  a  sad 
spectacle  meets  their  gaze.  There,  motionless,  life- 
less, lies  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  their  hope  and  heart 
lie  buried  with  Him  there.  They  turn  away  their 
gaze  lest  their  eyes,  like  setting  stars,  lose  their 
light.  But  already  they  are  blinded  by  the  blood- 
tears  of  heart,  and  although  they  leave  the  grave 
and  lose  sight  of  their  dead  deliverer,  yet  the  silent 
sepulchre   and  the  slain   Saviour  vanish   not   from 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FATEURE.  T39 

their  vision.  Let  them  seek  sohice  anywhere,  yea 
everywhere,  but  all  the  spring's  of  gladness  and  eon- 
sokition  are  dry.  Life  is  Init  a  wilderness,  barren 
and  burning.  Oh  that  sleep  —  the  angel  of  the  sor- 
rowful—  might  roek  them  in  his  arms  into  sweet  re- 
pose. Rut  no,  harassed  and  tortured  on  the  rack 
of  despair  they  are  kept  alive  to  the  presence  of 
death.  Surely  this  is  the  darkest  night  of  their  life 
and  the  darkest  hour  of  that  dark  night.  No!  night 
breeds  night,  as  sorrow  brings  sorrow.  The  dark- 
ness deepens ;  they  struggle  back  to  the  grave,  and 
there  the  climax  is  reached.  The  night  of  night 
sets  in — the  body  of  Jesus  is  missing.  The  tomb  is 
empty.  Here  is  sorrow  upon  sorrow.  No  single 
star  of  hope  studs  their  spiritual  sky,  biit  despair 
reigns  without  a  rival.  Suddenly,  like  a  flash  of 
lightning,  the  revelation  of  Heaven,  in  the  words 
of  the  angels,  bursts  upon  their  soul.  The  eyelids 
of  the  dawn  are  opened,  and  from  the  portals  of 
light,  like  a  "  bridegroom  coming  forth  from  his 
chamber,"  appears  truth  and  authoritatively  de- 
clares that  the  day  has  dawned  and  the  reign  of 
darkness  and  despair  ended,  in  the  precious  words, 
"  He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen."  This  was  a  living- 
truth,  lovingly  told,  containing  within  it  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life  of  their  faith.  Ihit,  as  light  had 
to  battle   with  darkness  for  supremacy,  so  desjiair 


140  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

made  war  with  hope,  for  the  words  appeared  "  like 
idle  tales  "  unto  them.  But  the  lig-ht  of  truth  per- 
sistently opposes  the  darkness  of  doubt  until,  ulti- 
mately, it  vanishes  as  the  darkness  disappears  at  the 
dawn  of  day.  And  behold  faith  in  splendor  and  glory 
aseends  the  throne  of  the  soul.  Sweet  confidence  fills 
their  heart,  midday  light  floods  their  life  when  the 
Risen  Lord  appeared  unto  them  and  said,  "  Peace 
be  unto  you. ' '  We  are  forced  to  stand  awhile,  how- 
ever, with  the  disciples  in  the  shade  of  night  and 
endeavor  to  analyze  its  deep  shadows,  for  if  we  un- 
derstand not  the  night,  we  can  not  appreciate  the 
day.  He  who  has  not  struggled  with  doubt  will 
never  be  strong  in  faith.  The  disciples'  night  of 
soul  was  born  when  they  lost  the  living  Jesus  among 
the  dead.  Its  shadow  deepened  when  they  lost 
the  dead  Jesus  from  among  the  dead.  They  saw 
the  first  ray  of  light  in  the  words  "  He  is  risen." 
God  turned  the  shadow  of  death  into  the  clear  light 
of  morning  in  their  experience,  and  they  basked  in 
the  warm  smile  of  the  noonday  sun  when,  through 
the  empty  grave,  they  were  enabled  to  see — the  risen, 
living  Christ.  They  failed  to  find  Jesus  where  they 
expected  to  find  Him,  "  among  the  dead,"  but  they 
did  find  Him  where  they  did  not  expect  to  find  Him, 
among  "  the  living,"  and  they  found  Him  among 
the  living  because  they  failed  to  find  Him  among 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAIT.URE.  14T 

the  dciid.      So  that  our  subject  is  —  llic  Success  of 
Jul  i  III?' c. 

We  have  in  the  words  of  the  text  a  record  of  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  find  Jesus.  They  contain  tlie 
secret  of  every  unsuccessful  search  for  the  Saviour, 
^lark  well  that  the  question  asked  the  disciples  is 
not, —  Why  do  ye  seek  Jesus?  nor  —  Why  do  3^e  not 
seek  Jesus?  No.  They  did  seek  Him,  and  it  was 
riijfht  and  natural  that  they  should.  Ilut  why  seek 
Him,  "  the  living  among- the  dead?"  It  was  beeausc 
tliey  sought  Him  where  He  was  not  to  be  found  that 
they  were  thus  interrogated. 

I.        FAILURE. 

He  was  unfound  where  sought, — "among  the 
dead.  "  The  disciples  could  not  but  seek  Jesus  in  the 
grave.  Their  love  constrained  them ;  they  could  not 
live  without  Him.  If  they  could  not  have  the  living 
Christ,  then  they  must  get  near  the  dead  Jesus. 
Though  faith  had  lost  Jesus  "among  the  dead,"  yet 
love  kept  Him  enthroned  in  the  heart.  Moreover, 
they  sought  Him  "  among  the  dead,"  because  they 
had  forgotten  Christ's  references  to  His  resurrection, 
or  failed  to  believe  them.  Hence,  they  knew  not 
where  else  to  seek  Him.  It  was  here  they  expected 
to  find  Him,  because  it  was  here  they  had  lost  Him. 
This  was  the  greatest  loss  of  their  life — losing  Jesus 


142  r, i.mrsF.s  ov  cod. 

in  the  grave.  It  was  so  unexpected;  they  evident!}^ 
had  not  calculated  on  the  death  of  Christ.  "  This 
shall  nev^er  happen  to  Thee  "  was  the  confident  as- 
sertion when  once  He  referred  to  His  death.  Had 
He  not  more  than  once  robbed  death  of  his  prey, 
yea,  redeemed  men  from  the  very  jaws  of  the 
grave  ?  Who,  then,  would  have  anticipated  the 
death  of  such  an  one?  How  great,  therefore,  must 
have  been  their  disappointment,  despondency  and 
despair  when  they  laid  Him  in  the  grave  Then 
their  faith  gave  place  to  doubt  and  their  confidence 
to  fear.  They  had  faithfully  followed  Him  through- 
out His  public  life.  He  w^as  their  all,  and  their  all 
had  they  left  to  follow  Him.  Their  faith  had  been 
amply  repaid  in  His  fidelity.  Each  day  brought 
some  new  proof  that  He  was  the  Messiah.  His 
gracious  words  and  Godlike  works  made  them  con- 
fident that  He  was  the  Christ,  the  "  Son  of  God." 
How^  they  loved  and  reverenced  Him!  Every  hour 
only  increased  their  love  and  their  desire  to  be  like 
Him,  until  they  suddenly  lose  Him  in  the  grave. 
The  grave  is  the  place  where  man  still  suffers  his 
heaviest  losses.  Here  the  parent  loses  the  child, 
and  the  child  the  parent.  Here  the  tie  that  binds 
is  severed  and  love  loses  sight  of  the  loved,  and  here 
the  disciples  lose  their  Saviour.  There  are  many 
to-day  who  follow  Christ  faithfully  throughout  His 


'1-HK    SUCCKSS    OK     KAII.IKK.  I  4_^ 

public  life  until  they  come  to  the  o-rave,  and  there 
they  lose  Him.  They  worship  with  the  wise  men 
at  the  cradle;  they  watch  with  eager  eyes  and  soul- 
admiration  His  miraculous  power.  They  bask  in 
the  glow  of  His  love  and  shout  "  Hosanna!  Blessed 
is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  when 
they  behold  His  triumphs  and  glory.  They  follow 
in  silence  and  awe  to  the  garden  of  (lethsemane. 
They  go  to  the  mock  trial  with  bleeding  hearts,  and 
while  lingering  looking  upon  the  crucified  One,  they 
are  nailed  with  Him  to  the  cross.  Their  faith, 
though  frail,  fights  bravely  against  unbelief,  hoping 
to  the  end  that  lie  who  "  saved  others  "  would  also 
save  Himself.  But  in  beholding  His  lifeless  form 
taken  down  from  the. cross  and  like  other  men,  when 
their  lives  are  ended,  laid  in  the  grave,  their  faith 
loses  its  hold  on  Jesus,  and  dies.  He  is  still  to  them 
the  best  and  kindest  of  men,  but  only  a  man  at 
best.  The  grave  is  one  of  the  enigmas  of  experi- 
ence, the  birthplace  of  many  of  life's  mysteries,  and 
the  deathbed  of  many  a  faith.  Placing  the  Creator 
of  the  world  to  lie  in  a  manger,  the  mighty  (iod  be- 
coming a  helpless  babe,  the  humiliation  of  the  Son 
of  God,  is  a  mystery  that  paralyzes  many  a  hope  and 
destroys  many  a  faith.  The  mystery  of  mysteries, 
however,  is  —  the  slain  Saviour,  the  dead  Son  of  (iod. 
When   the    li^verlastin''-    arms    are   folded   in   death, 


144  OLIMPSES    OF    COD. 

and  He  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  world  is  laid 
in  the  grave,  many  in  thus  beholding-  Him  lose  Him, 
and  like  the  disciples,  turn  from  the  grave  leaving 
their  Jesus  there.  Though  to  them  the  Christ  be 
dead,  the  memory  of  the  dead  Jesus  lives  and  is 
loved.  Faith  often  dies  when  love  lives  on.  In- 
deed love  never  dies.  Moved  by  love,  these  men, 
though  their  faith  in  the  Divinity  of  Christ  has  per- 
ished, yet  honor  and  reverence  the  ina)i  Jesus,  and 
like  the  disciples  they  would  embalm  His  body. 
They  never  find  the  body  of  Jesus,  however.  Dis- 
appointment alone  is  the  reward  of  their  pilgrimage 
to  the  grave,  for  all  they  find  is  an  empty  tomb. 
This  search  inevitably  ends  in  failure,  and  this 
brings  us  to  another  great  loss — losing  Jesus  from 
the  grave. 

If  the  disciples  had  never  thought  of  losing  Jesus 
in  the  grave,  much  less  had  they  expected  to  lose 
him  out  of  the  grave.  They  followed  to  the  grave 
and  there  lost  Him ;  now  they  follow  Him  into  the 
grave  yet  lose  Him.  This  completes  their  loss  and 
is  the  consummation  of  their  sorrow  and  solitude. 
Previous  to  this,  they  possessed  His  body,  and  that 
was  untold  wealth,  a  rich  legacy.  If  Judas  sold  the 
living  Jesus  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  nothing  could 
have  induced  these  men  to  part  with  the  dead  body 
of  Jesus.      Now,  however,  they  have  only  an  empty 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE. 


45 


tomb,  and  can  only  ti^azc  on  the  place  where  He  lay. 
There  are  many  disciples  still  who  are  full  of  sad- 
ness and  disappointment  while  they  stand  by  the 
empty  grave,  and  gaze  on  the  place  where  Jesus  lay, 
because  they  behold  Him  not.  They  see  angels,  but 
not  Jesus.  They  hear  the  sweet  voices  of  the  Heav- 
enly Heralds,  but  much  more  would  they  have  pre- 
ferred to  listen  to  the  dumb  speech  of  his  wounds  — 
the  pierced  side,  the  torn  brow  and  the  wounded  hand. 
What  are  the  words  of  angels  to  them  now?  They 
but  little  heed  them;  their  grief  is  too  great.  With- 
out Jesus,  even  angels  fail  to  interest  them,  for  what 
angel  can  take  the  place  of  Jesus?  Better  far  is  a 
dead  Jesus  than  a  host  of  living  angels;  yea,  more 
attractive  is  Jesus  in  His  death  shroud  than  angels 
in  the  glorious  robes  of  the  world  of  light.  Let  no 
one  fail,  however,  to  notice  the  attraction  Jesus  had 
for  angels.  Before  the  Incarnation,  though  the  an- 
gels made  many  visits  to  our  world,  they  never  had 
time  to  linger,  but  always  seemed  in  haste  to  fulfill 
their  errands  of  mercy  so  as  to  return  home  again. 
They  were  so  homesick  it  was  almost  an  impossibility 
to  keep  them  over  night.  But  when  Jesus  came  to 
tread  this  earth,  He  drew  the  angels  in  a  rich  galaxy 
around  Him.  They  felt  so  much  at  home  at  His 
birth  that  they  sang  with  joy.  Verily  they  would 
have  been  lonely  in  Heaven  without  Jesus.     If  He 


146  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

takes  up  His  abode  in  a  stable,  that  is  the  center  of 
attraction  to  them.  If  He  goes  to  the  wilderness, 
they  must  follow  Him  there.  If  He  enters  the  gar- 
den of  suffering  they  are  with  Him  there.  When 
He  is  laid  in  the  grave,  there  do  they  dwell.  The 
grave  never  entertained  angels  until  the  Lord  of 
Life  made  His  royal  visit  there.  But  the  grave  has 
ever  since  had  an  attraction  to  angels,  and  whoever 
will  may  see  angels  in  his  grave,  for  evermore 
sacred  is  the  spot  where  every  saint  sleeps  his  last 
sleep.  Though  all  may  find  angels,  none  can  find 
Jesus  in  the  grave,  and  many  who  seek  Him  fail  to 
find  Him,  because  they  seek  Him  where  He  is  not 
to  be  found — "among  the  dead."  But  who  are 
they  who  are  seeking  the  "  living  among  the  dead?" 
The  scientist,  who  seeks  to  explain  nature's  life  and 
laws  without  God;  seeks  in  dead  matter  the  creative 
genius  of  the  universe,  and  expects  to  find  in  evolu- 
tion the  explanation  of  mind — seeks  "  the  living 
among  the  dead."  He  who  seeks  the  origin  of  the 
religious  instinct  and  man's  moral  nature  in  educa- 
tion, and  the  cause  of  conversion  and  religious  re- 
vival in  emotional  excitement,  seeks  "  the  living 
among  the  dead."  He  who  seeks  to  account  for 
Christianity  —  the  greatest  moralizing  influence  in 
the  world — through  a  deceived  or  a  deceiving  found- 
er, "  seeks  the  living  among  the  dea,cl-. "     He  who 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FATT.T^RE.  147 

would  account  for  the  New  Testament,  the  Book 
above  every  other  which  has  made  savage  men  hu- 
mane and  barbaric  nations  civilized,  by  the  delusion 
or  fraud  of  the  authors,  "  seeks  the  living-  among- 
the  dead."  The  positivist,  who  seeks  the  incentive 
and  the  inspiration  to  holiness  in  the  human  and 
not  in  the  Divine,  "  seeks  the  living  among  the 
dead."  The  rationalist  wdio  would  account  for 
Christ  by  the  Jesus,  and  explains  the  supernatural 
l)y  the  natural,  "  seeks  the  living  among  the  dead." 
The  atheist  who  banishes  God  out  of  His  own  uni- 
verse and  would  trace  the  energies  of  mind  to  mat- 
ter, seeks  the  source  of  the  moral  energies  in 
the  human  mind,  and  thus  makes  death  the  creator 
of  life,  "  seeks  the  living  among  the  dead."  The 
ritualist  who  seeks  life  in  formality;  the  literalist 
who  looks  for  spirituality  through  the  letter  of  the 
creed,  the  prayer  book  or  Bible ;  the  Papist  who  ex- 
pects salvation  through  dogma,  church,  ]\Iary,  or 
Pope,  seek  "  the  living  among  the  dead."  He  who 
seeks  eternal  life  anywhere  but  in  Christ,  sanctifica- 
tion  in  any  way  but  through  the  Holy  (xhost,  "  seeks 
the  living  among  the  dead."  These  men  fmd  noth- 
ing but  an  empty  tomb.  Disappointment  and  fail- 
ure inevitably  follow  their  blind  search,  and  with 
the  disciples  of  old,  their  experience  verifies  our 
staternent  that  Jesus  is  unfound  where  sought.    Oh, 


148  CxLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

how  many  there  are  in  the  world  who  in  bitter 
agony  of  spirit  unconsciously  cry  out  for  Him,  and 
how  many  there  are  who  weary  at  heart  and  heavily 
laden  with  conscious  guilt,  who  are  unable  to  find 
Jesus,  and  are  therefore  deprived  of  the  rest  and 
life  He  promises  and  is  so  anxious  to  give,  not  be- 
cause they  do  not  seek  Him,  but  because  they  seek 
Him  where  He  is  not  to  be  found.  Hence  are  we 
forced  to  ask,  "  Where  may  we  find  the  Messiah? 
How  may  we  come  into  His  presence  and  realize 
that  He  is  indeed  the  Saviour,  the  Son  of  God  ? ' ' 
Let  the  experience  of  the  disciples  further  instruct 
us.  We  learn  that  they  found  Jesus,  and  found 
Him  where  they  did  not  expect  to  find  Him. 

II.        SUCCESS. 

He  was  unsouofht  where  found,  amoner  the  livin 


t-.- 


The  disciples,  though  they  lost  Jesus  in  the  grave, 
found  Him  out  of  the  grave,  and  this  was  the  great- 
est discovery  of  their  life.  They  lost  Him  out  of 
the  world,  to  find  Him  in  the  grave;  then  they  lost 
Him  out  of  the  grave,  to  find  Him  in  the  world. 
They  found  among  the  living.  Him  they  had 
sought  "among  the  dead."  This  is  always  the 
case.  Among  the  living  only  is  He  found,  and  there 
all  may  find  Him.  There  were  three  places  where 
the  Lord  was  found  of  the  disciples  after  the  Resur- 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  1 49 

rection,  that  are  typical  and  representative  of  the 
places  where  He  is  always  found.  They  found  Him 
in  a  Garden,  in  the  Home,  and  in  the  Upper  Cham- 
ber. The  first  stands  for  nature,  the  second  for  Provi- 
dence, the  third  for  orrace.  He  was  first  found  in  a — 
Garden  —  near  a  grave,  close  to  the  empty  tomb. 
Mary,  with  sad  and  sorrowful  heart,  in  solitude,  stood, 
riveted  by  love,  to  the  spot  where  He  had  lain.  She 
knew  He  was  not  there,  yet  the  place  was  sacred — 
He  had  been  there.  Fast  flowed  her  tears,  and 
through  those  tears  she  saw  her  Saviour.  She 
wept  on  until  Jesus  stood  transfigured  before  her. 
How  manifold  are  the  changes  of  life !  Mary  now 
weeps  at  the  grave  of  Jesus.  But  a  little  while  ago 
"  Jesus  wept  "  by  the  grave  of  Lazarus.  Thus  we 
find  the  two  poles  of  existence  meet  at  the  grave — 
the  strong  and  the  weak,  the  Teacher  and  the  taught. 
Life  is  but  a  bank,  in  which  we  invest  sympathy, 
which  we  draw  out  later  on  with  interest.  Jesus 
was  never  more  Divine  than  when  He  wept  b}- 
the  grave  of  Lazarus.  When  He  is  most  human 
then  is  lie  to  us  most  Divine.  The  wealth  of  His 
heart  was  concentrated  in  those  tears.  "  Jesus 
wept."  How  unlike  God,  yet  how  very  like  man. 
We  never  feel  Jesus  nearer  and  in  fuller  sympathy 
with  us  than  when  we  mingle  together  oiir  tears  by 
the  open  grave.     We  constantl}'  thank  God  that  we 


150  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

have  seen  Jesus  near  the  grave  before  nearing  the 
grave  ourselves.  Indeed,  if  we  had  not  heard  and 
believed  the  words,  "  I  am  the  Resurrection  and 
the  Life, ' '  we  never  cotild  have  left  the  spot  where 
our  dear  ones  are  buried,  or  dried  our  tears.  Mary 
was  never  nearer  Heaven  than  when  she  wept  b}^ 
the  new  tomb  of  Joseph.  The  most  pathetic  scene 
of  life  is  when  friends  stand  weeping  around  the 
grave  of  one  they  love.  The  grave  is  a  softer  bed, 
and  the  chill  of  death  is  taken  away  by  the  warmth 
of  the  tears  of  love.  We  thank  Thee,  Jesus,  for 
Thy  tears.  Now  we  know  that  Thou  dost  love  us 
and  are  sure  that  Thou  dost  sympathize  with  us  in 
all  our  suffering  and  sorrow.  Indeed,  to  die  and 
enter  the  grave  is  not  so  hard  a  task  if  Jesus  will 
but  weep  by  our  grave  and  watch  over  it.  "  Jesus 
wept  "  because  the  myriad  graves  of  humanity  in 
all  ao-es,  with  all  the  heart-aches  and  the  sufferings 
which  they  implied,  passed  before  Him.  Mary 
wept  because  she  had  lost  her  best  friend,  but  her 
sorrow  was  turned  to  joy  by  the  grave  of  Jesus,  and 
she  was  made  strong  thereby  to  stand  by  other 
graves.  Verily,  the  only  preparation  to  stand  by 
the  grave  and  to  enter  the  silent  sepulchre  is 
to  wait,  like  Mary,  weeping  by  the  grave  of  Jesus, 
until  we  behold  the  risen  Tvord.  When  we  un- 
derstand   the    miracle    of   the    Resurrection,    death 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  151 

will  lose  its  sting  and  the  o-rave  its  victory.  I  am 
glad  that  His  grav^e  was  in  a  garden,  and  that  it  was 
in  a  garden  He  was  first  found  after  His  resurrec- 
tion. It  seems  so  natural  to  meet  Him  there.  It 
was  in  a  garden  Pie  died  through  self-sacrifice  and 
secured  the  Victor's  crown.  In  a  garden  He  was 
buried  and  entered  into  His  well-earned,  triumph- 
ant rest.  In  a  garden  he  "  rose  again  from  the 
dead."  I  love  the  grave  in  the  garden,  and  although 
the  poet  says  there  is  no  garden  without  its  grave, 
yet  I  am  glad  to  think  that  every  grave  may  be  in 
a  garden.  I  like  to  think  of  Him,  sleeping  there, 
with  beautiful  flowers  surrounding  His  grave, 
everything  so  sweet  and  fragrant,  so  pure  and 
peaceful.  Never  was  garden  so  rich  or  full  of 
life  before,  for  buried  in  its  heart  was  the  Lord 
of  Life.  The  earth,  with  its  grave,  is  evermore 
a  garden  beautiful  in  which  the  Saviour  has  slept. 
The  Garden  of  Gethsemane  and  the  garden  of  the 
grave,  the  garden  of  suffering  and  the  garden  of 
rest,  the  garden  of  death  and  the  garden  of  life, 
correspond  so  closely  that  I  fain  would  believe 
they  are  the  same.  Am  I  mistaken?  Then  Icl 
me  alone.  The  thought  is  my  own  and  my 
heart  is  full  of  rest.  It  was  very  natural  that  Mary 
should  have  mistaken  Jesus  for  the  gardener.  We 
alwavs   meet    Him    in    Nature's    Paradise,    dressing 


152  CxLlMPSES    OF    GOD. 

and  keeping-  it.  Yea,  we  can  always  find  Him  in 
the  garden,  especially  like  Mary,  in  the  early  morn- 
ing", opening  the  eyelids  of  the  lily,  training-  the 
trees,  giving-  fresh  beauty  to  the  flowers  and  cloth- 
ing the  rose  in  fragrant  and  royal  robes.  Let  ns 
meditatively  and  devoutly  stand  in  Nature's  garden, 
and  though  a  grave  be  near  us,  yet  shall  we  see  the 
risen  Lord. 

I  Ionic. — This  is  another  place  where  the  Saviour 
was  found  after  His  resurrection,  amid  a  famity 
circle,  sitting  at  the  table,  partaking  of  their  humble 
evening  meal.  How  suggestive  and  beautiful.  He 
joined  two  sad  and  solitary  disciples  in  their  quiet 
meditative  walk,  and  conversed  with  them  on  the 
burning  question  of  the  day.  They  listened  to  His 
wondrous  words  with  rapt  attention ;  Llis  voice  was 
so  magnetic.  His  thoughts  so  lucid,  His  sympathy 
so  sincere  and  sacred,  and  His  method  of  dcaling 
with  the  whole  question  so  new  and  enrapturing, 
that  the}"  had  reached  their  destination  unknown  to 
themselves.  They  had  more  insight  into  theology 
in  that  short  walk  than  they  had  ever  possessed  be- 
fore. How  their  hearts  burned  within  them  with 
admiration,  reverence  and  love — yet  thoy  knew  Him 
not.  But  when  they  had  entered  the  home  and 
sat  at  table,  ''  in  the  breaking  of  bread,"  then  they 
knczo  Him.  ^  How  ver}"  precious  is  the  truth  taught 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  I53 

here !  We  have  often  met  Him  in  our  walks  in  the 
fields  of  theolo<ify,  and  thoug-h  we  were  always  made 
i^-lad  l:)y  His  heavenly  thoughts  on  luiman  themes, 
and  were  eharmed  by  His  message  of  love,  yet 
we  knew  Him  not.  But  in  the  cvcry-day  experi- 
ences of  life,  in  the  Galilee  of  humiliation  and  suf- 
fering, in  the  sanctity  of  home,  our  eyes  were 
opened  and  we  knew  Him.  It  is  always  so.  He 
is  known  best  not  in  theology,  but  in  tlie  simple  yet 
sublime  manifestation  of  love.  When  He  approaches 
nearest  us  as  a  man,  then  do  we  realize  how  Divine 
He  is.  Thank  God,  we  have  oft  seen  Him  in  the 
"  breaking  of  bread,"  and  in  the  act  of  blessing  and 
giving  bread  to  man.  We  have  met  Him  in  many 
a  humble  yet  holy  home,  and  though  the  house 
spoke  of  poverty,  yet  the  tenant,  made  rich  in  grace, 
would  reveal  unto  us  the  wealth  of  divine  love.  We 
saw  Jesus  in  every  smile  and  heard  His  voice  in 
every  speech  or  song,  while  the  very  air  breathed 
His  presence,  and  \ve  realized  that  we  were  near 
Heaven  while  yet  in  the  home.  We  have  seen 
more  of  Christ's  glory  and  felt  more  of  His  gracious 
power,  when  witnessing  the  sweet  submission  and 
patience  manifested  in  the  midst  of  sorrow  and 
suffering  in  these  homes,  than  when  worshipping 
in  the  most  magnificent  tcmi)lc.  The  unpreten- 
tious  and   yet   entirely   consecrated   lives  -of    these 


154  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

noble  men  of  God,  who  are  making  home  a  Heaven 
and  earth  a  Paradise,  are  so  transparent  that  we  can 
see  God  through  them. 

Upper  Chamber. —  This  is  another  place  where 
Jesus  was  found.  The  disciples  had  gathered  to- 
gether for  meditation  and  prayer  in  a  lowly  room 
where  probably  the  last  supper  was  eaten.  Oh  how 
sacred  was  that  room !  It  was  ever  so  since  first 
they  met  in  it,  but  much  more  so  now,  after  the 
Master's  death.  Losing  Jesus  intensified  their  love 
for  ever3^thing  connected  with  Him.  They  never 
knew  the  depth  of  their  love  for  Jesus  until  they 
lost  Him  in  death.  As  their  love  deepened  for  the 
Master,  so  did  their  appreciation  for  all  things  made 
sacred  through  contact  with  Him.  That  room  was 
of  special  interest,  and  everything  that  had  occurred 
therein  was  indelibly  impressed  upon  their  souls. 
Glorious  pictures  of  the  pathetic  scenes  of  the  past 
with  which  it  is  closely  identified  hang  on  mcmorv's 
walls.  They  are  reininded  by  all  the  surroundings 
of  that  room  of  the  lessons  of  love  they  learned 
therein.  The  air  in  that  room  is  full  of  the  inusic 
of  the  last  hymn  they  sang  together,  before  going 
out  to  the  garden  of  suffering.  The  very  walls  seem 
proud  to  echo  the  voice  of  Jesus.  Jesus  sang  as 
well  as  wept.  The  value  of  His  tears  is  increased 
by  the  sweetness  of  His  song;  the  sweetness  of  His 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  155 

song:  is  enhanced  by  the  bitterness  of  His  tears. 
The  capacity  for  pleasure  and  pain,  sing-ing-  and 
sig-hing-,  is  the  same.  The  greater  the  spirit's  sensi- 
bility to  joy,  the  more  sensitive  it  is  to  sorrow. 
Thus  it  was  Christ's  great  power  to  appreciate  the 
pleasures  of  life,  which  gives  pathos  to  the  name 
"  Man  of  Sorrows."  It  was  because  He  could  sing- 
that  He  could  weep.  No  one  loved  music  with 
equal  passion  to  Christ,  for  no  one  could  appreciate 
it  so  well.  He  is  the  inspiration  of  all  music.  He 
composed  the  song  which  the  morning  stars  sang 
together.  He  created  the  sublime  symphony  of  the 
solar  system.  Indeed,  the  innumerable  worlds  are 
only  strings  in  the  golden  harp  of  the  universe. 
The  birds  that  sing  so  sweetly  had  their  voices 
trained  by  Him  and  learned  their  song  from  Him, 
whose  name  is  full  of  music  and  whose  nature  is 
brimful  of  tlic  harmony  of  holiness.  When  He 
came  to  the  world  He  was  seeking  to  strike  again, 
on  the  organ  of  the  universe,  the  "  Lost  Chord." 
He  died,  apparently,  with  His  hope  unrealized. 
But  when  He  arose  from  the  dead,  and  stood  in 
that  memorable  room  and  said,  "  Peace  be  mito 
you,"  He  struck  the  chord,  and  it  has  vibrated  ever 
since  with  marvelous  melody,  filling  the  souls  of 
men  with  the  harmony  of  love  and  the  rhythm  of 
life.      It  holds  the  angels  enraptured  and  its  melody 


,    1^6  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

moves  and  charms  God  until  He  joins  in  the  chorus, 
His  joy  being  so  great  that  "He  rests  in  His  love  and 
rejoices  .  .  .  with  singing,"  It  is  ever  thus. 
Music  is  the  shortest,  speediest,  safest,  smoothest 
way  to  soar  to  the  heart  of  God.  The  resurrection 
is  the  keynote  of  the  anthem  of  the  redeemed,  and 
the  soul  of  all  true  music.  Music,  however,  does 
not  always  express  itself  in  song.  It  is,  rather,  har- 
mony of  being  with  the  Divine,  the  rhythm  of  soul 
in  service,  and  the  melody  of  heart  in  communion 
with  Holiness.  Wherever  this  music  of  soul  exists, 
this  sweet  song  of  spirit,  this  music  of  grace  in 
man's  moral  movement,  the  risen  Lord  is  near  in- 
deed. The  disciples  were  thus  engaged  in  earnest 
worship,  united  in  pleading  for  divine  light  and 
guidance  amidst  the  spiritual  conflict  between  hope 
and  fear ;  hope  because  of  the  dawning  of  the  Resur- 
rection truth  upon  their  souls,  and  fear  lest  their 
hope  be  ill  founded.  The  struggling  and  striving 
of  soul  for  supremac}^  over  harassing  doubt,  and 
pleading  for  divine  strength,  is  always  the  sweetest 
music  to  the  Divine  ear,  and  the  risen  Lord  does 
then  appear.  Thank  God,  lye  have  found  Him  in 
the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  Though  the  temple 
outside  be  old  and  mean,  in  the  simple  but  earnest 
prayer,  in  the  hallowed  devotion  of  heart,  in  the 
sweet   communion  of  spirit  with  God,  in  the  songs 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FATTJTRE.  157 

of  Zion,  the  Lord  has  stood  oft  in  our  midst 
and  said,  "Peace  be  unto  you."  Thus,  the  risen 
Lord  is  found  amono-  the  living — in  the  Garden  of 
Nature,  like  the  Creator,  sanctifying  toil;  in  the 
home,  like  a  father,  supplying  wants  and  sanctify- 
ing trial ;  in  the  church,  like  the  Saviour,  sanctify- 
ing by  His  presence  and  inspiring  words  of  love, 
the  service  of  soul.  Wherever  there  is  a  soul  in  sor- 
row, as  in  the  Garden ;  soul  in  solitude  and  suffering, 
as  in  the  home;  soul  in  service,  as  in  the  Upper 
Chamber,  the  risen  Lord  is  there  indeed.  Jesus  is 
often  unsought  where  found.  Even  had  the  dis- 
ciples believed  the  Resurrection,  with  their  concep- 
tion of  the  temporal  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  they 
would  have  expected  to  find  Him  on  the  throne  of 
David,  rather  than  in  a  Garden ;  in  the  palace  of  the 
king,  partaking  of  royal  feasts,  rather  than  in  the 
humble  home  of  the  poor;  presenting  Himself  in 
the  temple  and  joining  in  its  grand  ritualistic  ser- 
vice, rather  than  in  the  unadorned  service  of  the 
Upper  Chamber.  Is  it  not  ever  thus?  We  expect 
to  find  Jesus  in  the  great  things  of  life  removed  far 
away  from  us,  while  in  truth  He  is  not  to  be  found 
there,  but  in  the  small  things  that  are  near  to  us, 
in  our  every-day  experiences,  in  the  silent  tear,  in 
the  sweet  song,  in  the  sigh.  He  is  not  in  the  earth- 
quake,   nor  in  the   wind,    but   in   the  "  still,    small 


158  GLIMPSE?    OF    GOD. 

voice."  Jesus  had  to  appear, —  manifest  Himself  to 
the  disciples  before  they  knew  Him,  and  that  for 
one  reason  —  because  He  was  unexpected  and  un- 
sought where  found.  Mary  did  not  know  Him  in 
the  garden;  He  had  to  speak  before  He  was  known. 
The  disciples  at  Emmaus,  though  they  conversed 
with  Him,  knew  Him  not  until  He  "  opened  their 
eyes."  He  was  hardly  expected  in  the  Upper 
Chamber,  for  the  doors  were  locked,  and  when  He 
appeared  they  took  Him  for  a  spirit.  Be  it  remem- 
bered, however,  that  Christ  never  reveals  Himself 
unless  there  be  a  desire  to  see  Him,  and  a  search, 
though  blind,  for  Him.  Search  is  always  the  proof 
of  desire  to  see,  and  every  sincere  search  will  ulti- 
mately be  rewarded  with  sight.  Thus  no  one  need 
fail  to  find  Jesus.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  ever  present 
as  the  all-sufficient  Guide  to  the  risen  Lord.  Thus 
we  have  learned  that  Jesus  is  often  unfound  where 
sought,  and  unsought  where  found.  This  brings  us 
to  our  last  division — 

III.        SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE. 

He  was  found  where  unsought,  because  sought 
where  iinfound.  The  disciples  failed  to  find  Jesus 
in  the  grave  and  this  failure  was  the  greatest  success 
of  their  life.  They  found  the  living  Christ,  be- 
cause they  failed  to  find  the  dead  Jesus.     Because 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  1 59 

they  sought  Him  where  they  did  not  find  Him,  they 
found  Him  where  they  did  not  seek  Him.  No  one 
sincerely  seeks  Jesus  but  will  ultimately  succeed  in 
findin^^-  liim,  but  no  one  will  ever  find  Jesus  unless 
he  sincerely  seek  Him.  Whoever  finds  Jesus  must 
do  so  through  the  grave. 

The  death  of  Christ  proved  the  death  of  many  a 
faith.  vSo  must  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  l)e  the 
life  of  every  faith.  Christianity  is  said  to  be  founded 
on  an  empty  tomb.  This  is  only  true  in  the  sense 
that  the  empty  tomb  stands  for  the  fact  of  the  Resur- 
rection. Nothing  but  a  living  Saviour  can  be  the 
hecid  of  a  living  Church.  If  Christ  did  not  rise  from 
the  dead,  He  never  could  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.  We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Christ's  Divin- 
ity rests  for  proof  on  the  Resurrection  alone,  but 
we  do  assert  that  faith  in  the  Resurrection  alone 
will  explain  and  account  for  the  Church,  and  more- 
over the  fact  of  the  Resurrection  alone  can  make 
salvation  possible.  Thus  the  Resurrection  of  Christ 
is  the  foundation  fact  of  Christianity.  Every  Chris- 
tian believes  in  the  ^liracle  of  the  Resurrection  and 
his  life  is  an  ever-present  and  convincing  proof  that 
Christ  "  rose  from  the  dead."  All  Christians  say, 
''  Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead,  whereof  we  are  all 
witnesses."  A  living  Christian  is  the  most  convinc- 
ing witness  and  indestructible  evidence  that  Christ 


l6o  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

livctJi.  The  disciples  expected  to  keep  Jesus  out  of 
the  grave,  then  they  expected  to  keep  Him  in  the 
grave,  but  at  length  learned  to  keep  Him  in  spite 
of  the  grave.  Yea  veril}^,  because  of  the  grave  are 
they  enabled  to  keep  Him.  These  are  but  nec- 
essary stages  in  the  development  of  faith  and  the 
deepening  of  spiritual  life.  They  who  lose  Jesus 
because  of  the  grave  must  find  Him  through  the 
grave.  Follow  Him  into  the  grave,  then  you  lose 
Him;  follow  Him  out  of  the  grave,  then  you  shall 
find  Him.  This  is  one  and,  in  truth,  the  only 
way  of  finding  the  Messiah.  They  who  seek  the 
living  among  the  dead  find  nothing  but  the  empty 
tomb,  but  they  secure  there  the  necessary  guidance 
and  inspiration  to  find  the  living  Christ.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  find  Jesus  but  in  this  wise.  He  is  within 
the  grave  to  the  disciple  when  he  stands  without; 
He  is  without  the  grave  when  the  disciple  stands 
within.  But  as  soon  as  love  leads  him  into  the 
grave,  life  leads  him  out  to  Jesus.  When  we  fail 
to  see  Him  in  the  grave,  alone  shall  we  succeed 
in  seeing  Him  out  of  the  grave.  All  who  lose 
Jesus  in  the  grave  do  so  in  sorrow,  and  the  reason 
thereof  is  unbelief.  All  who  find  Him  through  the 
empty  grave  do  so  with  joy,  and  the  reason  thereof 
is  faith.  They  are  sorrowful  because  they  lose  Him 
out  of  the  grave,  but  ultimately  they  are  made  glad 


THE    SUCCESS    OV    FAIT.URE.  l6l 

that  they  lost  Ilini  in  and  out  of  the  j;rave.  Thus, 
their  greatest  loss  turns  out  to  be  their  greatest 
gain.  He  who  conscientiously  seeks  Jesus  among 
the  dead  will  ultimately  find  Him  —  among  the  liv- 
ing, for  (iod  always  rewards  every  sincere  search 
for  the  Saviour  with  success.  Thus,  seeking  Christ, 
even  among  the  dead,  is  better  than  not  to  seek 
Him  anywhere,  for  by  the  empty  tomb  we  secure 
visions  and  the  guidance  of  angels  into  the  mys- 
teries of  the  resurrection  and  to  the  living  Christ. 
To  those  disciples  who  sought  Him  in  the  grave 
first  appeared  Jesus,  and  that  in  the  order  in  which 
they  came.  Mary  was  the  first  at  the  sepulchre  and 
the  first  to  see  Jesus;  John  seems  to  have  been  the 
second,  and  the  first  without  seeing  Jesus  to  believe 
the  Resurrection.  Thus  is  faithful  devotion  and 
conscientious  search  rewarded  of  Crod  with  realiza- 
tion of  truth.  The  one  need  of  the  world  to-day  is 
to  behold  the  living  Christ,  and  it  is  fast  becoming- 
convinced  of  this  fact.  We  are  glad  to  believe  that 
there  are  thousands  of  men  who  are  earnestly  seeking 
Christ,  though  they  know  it  not,  and  though  they  arc 
seeking  Him  where  He  is  not  to  be  found  —  among  the 
dead.  The  work  of  the  church  to-day  is  to  stand  by 
the  empty  tomb  and  echo  the  words  of  the  angels, 
"He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen."  vShow  the  world 
the  way  to  the  Saviour.      We  can  not  do  this  unless 


l62  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

we  ourselves  have  found  Him.  Do  we  believe  that 
He  is  risen,  and  have  we  seen  the  risen  Lord?  Yea 
thank  God,  we  have  seen  Him  in  the  garden,  the 
paradise  of  life ;  in  the  home,  the  paradise  of  puri- 
ty; in  the  church,  the  paradise  of  piety,  and  in 
Heaven,  the  paradise  of  the  peace  of  God.  Thus 
we  exchanged  doubt  for  faith,  despair  for  hope, 
death  for  life,  and  safely  passed  with  the  disciples 
through  the  discipline  of  the  night  into  the  clear 
light  of  day;  from  starlight  to  sunlight,  and  from 
sunlight  to  God-light.  We  bask  in  the  light  of  the 
noonday  sun  of  faith,  for  "  He  is  risen."  We  are 
clothed  with  joy  and  gladness,  as  the  lily  is  clothed 
with  beauty  and  purity.  We  are  fanned  by  the 
balmy  breezes  of  Zion  and  breathe  love  in  the  at- 
mosphere of  Heaven,  for  "  He  is  risen."  Our  souls 
are  beautified  with  the  beams  of  God's  holiness,  and 
illuminated  with  the  radiant  smile  of  His  counte- 
nance, for  "  He  is  risen."  We  are  filled  with  the 
wisdom  of  God,  for  we  have  the  "  Mind  of  Christ." 
We  arc  nourished  by  God's  love,  for  Christ  dwell- 
eth  in  our  hearts.  We  feel  secure  in  every  storm, 
our  home  is  the  eternal  heart  of  God  and  our  life  is 
hid  with  Christ  in  Him,  for  "  He  is  risen."  Our 
inheritance  is  infinite  wealth.  "  All  things  are 
ours, ' ' —  light,  love,  life,  for  "  He  is  risen.  "  "  When 
Christ  our  life  shall  appear,  then  shall  we  also  ap- 


THE    SUCCESS    OF    FAILURE.  163 

pear  with  Him  in  glory. "  Arrayed  in  lustre  bric^rht, 
clothed  in  garments  of  light,  we  shall  rise  into  the 
higher  life  of  holiness  in  Heaven,  for  "  He  is 
risen. " 


FAITH'S  FAITHFUL    FOUNDATION. 

"  This  is  a  faithful  sayini^,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
that  Christ  Jesns  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of 
whom  I  am  chief." — I  Tim.  1:15. 

Without  controversy,  Saul  of  Tarsus,  previous  to 
his  conversion,  was  Christianity's  most  potent  antag- 
onist in  the  first,  or  indeed  in  any  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  He  was  a  man  who  would  be  oTeat 
in  any  age  and  successful  in  any  sphere.  To  hiui 
all  service  worthy  to  be  undertaken  was  sacred. 
Every  cause  that  arrested  his  attention  and  enlisted 
his  sympathy  received  the  strong  support  of  his 
sani;-uine  and  staunch  spirit.  He  entered  into  all 
service  with  a  sturdy,  self-reliant,  self-assertive  and 
self-sacrificing  spirit.  His  liberal  education,  majes- 
tic mind,  spiritual  strength,  and  social  status  com- 
bined to  make  him  a  choice  champion  to  any  cause. 
His  fervency,  fearlessness  and  fidelity  made  him  a 
resistless  force  and  a  relentless  foe.  He  possessed 
a  mighty  intellect  and  a  magnetic  master-mind, 
which  had  received  the  highest  culture.      His  eagle 


1 66  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

eye,  heroic  heart,  brawny  backbone,  invulnerable 
integrity,  imperial  intuition  and  intellectual  insight, 
made  him  a  born  leader  —  a  mighty  mental  and 
moral  magnet,  drawing  to  himsejf  all  similar  spirits 
to  engage  in  the  same  service.  He  was  unflinching 
and  uncompromising  in  the  fulfillment  of  what  he 
understood  to  be  his  duty.  His  pluck,  prudence, 
patriotism,  perseverance  and  piety  made  him  a  pow- 
erful personality.  He  was  convinced  that  Christ 
was  an  impostor,  Christianity  an  imposition,  and 
true  to  his  own  nature,  honest  to  his  convictions, 
he  employed  all  his  time  and  talents  to  rid  the 
world  of  the  fanatic  folly  and  fraud  of  Christian- 
ity. No  man  could  have  undertaken  to  do  more  to 
uproot  Christianity  and  to  annihilate  its  influence 
than  did  Saul  of  Tarsus.  It  is  imperative  that  we 
bear  these  things  in  inind  in  order  to  be  able  to  ap- 
preciate fully  his  testimony  concerning  the  truthful- 
ness of  the  Gospel  and  the  triumph  of  gospel  truth. 
Had  Saul  remained  an  enemy,  the  skeptics  of  the 
world  would  have  found  in  his  attitude  and  enmity 
an  all-sufficient  answer  and  justification  for  their 
antagonism  to  Christianity,  and  surely  it  would 
have  been  a  strong  stand  and  support  for  skepti- 
cism. We  can  not  but  have  confidence  in  men  of 
Saul's  type,  on  whatever  side  they  may  be  found 
fighting.     We  instinctively  place   more  confidence 


faith's  faithful  foundation.  167 

in  an  intelligent,  eonscicntious,  inquiring  infidel, 
than  we  do  in  a  believer  who  has  not  eourage 
nor  conseienee  to  challenge  any  claim,  nor  interest 
and  intelligence  enough  to  investigate  indepen- 
dently the  credentials  of  Christianity.  The  honest 
opposition  of  a  conscientious  unbeliever  will  ulti- 
mately be  of  greater  service  to  the  cause  of 
Christ  than  the  support  of  believers  who  have 
neither  dared  to  think  nor  dared  to  doubt.  Let 
Christians  learn  to  look  upon  conscientious  chal- 
lenges to  the  claims  of  Christianity  as  choice  cham- 
pions of  its  cause.  Truth  must  ultimately  triumph, 
and  all  who  sincerely  seek  spiritual  truth  will  in- 
evitably succeed  in  finding  it,  and  gladly  embrace  it 
when  found.  Christianity's  greatest  enemy  is  the 
man  who  stifles  investigation  and  smothers  convic- 
tion, whether  in  himself  or  in  others.  To  all  such, 
the  testimony  of  Saul  as  to  the  truthfulness  of  the 
Gospel  is  weightless  and  worthless,  but  to  all  sincere 
seekers  after  truth,  whether  believers  or  unbeliev- 
ers, it  is  simply  invaluable.  Of  all  men  who  have 
ever  lived,  the  best  qualified  to  judge  Christianit}' 
was  Saul  of  Tarsus.  ?Ie  possessed  greater  qualifi- 
cations to  test  the  truthfulness,  to  value  the  evi- 
dences and  to  give  an  impartial  verdict  on  the 
veracity  of  the  Gospel,  than  any  other.  His  prep- 
aration   of    head    and   heart    is   unquestioned,   his 


i^8 


GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 


heroism  and  integrity  unchallenged.  Even  enemies 
are  forced  to  recognize  in  Saul  an  unbiased  investi- 
gator, holding  supremely  the  gifts  necessary  to  pass 
an  opinion  on  Faith's  Foundation.  He  lived  in  the 
first  century,  and  had  access  to  all  the  historical 
records.  If  any  fraud  had  been  practiced  or  any 
weakness  existing  in  the  chain  of  evidences,  no  one 
was  more  favorably  situated  to  discover  it  or  pos- 
sessed greater  incentive  to  expose  it  when  found, 
than  did  Saul.  Apart  from  his  natural  love  of  truth, 
gladl}"  would  he  have  welcomed  an}^  damaging  evi- 
dence against  Christianity,  as  a  vindication  of  the 
attitude  he  held  toward  it.  He  was  an  eye-witness 
of  the  life  of  the  first  disciples,  and  was  well  versed 
in  their  teaching.  Fie  possessed  every  advantage  of 
noting  the  change  the  new  faith  wrought  in  the 
lives  of  the  believers  and  of  comparing  their  prac- 
tice with  their  profession.  He  understood  thor- 
oughly the  national  temperament,  was  in  sympathy 
with  the  national  aspirations,  and  devoted  to  the 
faith  of  his  fathers.  He  was  well  versed  concern- 
ing the  Messianic  hope,  had  studied  as  thoroughly 
as  any  one  the  prophecies  which  formed  the  founda- 
tion of  that  hope,  and  possessed  every  advantage 
possible  to  compare  in  detail  the  word,  works  and 
life  of  Jesus  with  the  promised  Christ  of  prophecy. 
Starting  out  as  an  enemy,  he  was  certainly  not  prej- 


FAITH^S    FAITHFUL    FOUNDATION.  169 

udiced  in  favor  of  Christianity  but  was  predisposed 
against  it.  All  must  concede  that  nothing  but  firm 
faith  in  the  truthfulness  of  the  Gospel  could  tempt 
Saul  to  embrace  it.  Xot  only  had  he  nothing  to 
gain,  but,  from  a  worldly  standpoint,  he  had  every- 
thing to  lose  in  accepting  it.  Nevertheless,  possess- 
ing all  these  advantages  to  test  the  trustworthiness 
of  the  claims  of  Christianit3%  he  testified,  "  This  is  a 
faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of 
whom  I  am  chief."  He  was  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity and  became  one  of  the  staunchest  supporters 
of  Christian  truth,  the  strongest  advocate  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  while  his  whole  life  from  his  conver- 
sion to  his  death  was  the  noblest  exemplification  of 
the  truthfulness  of  the  Gospel.  To  him  the  Gospel 
was  true,  not  only  as  a  history  and  a  doctrine,  but 
as  the  only  power  to  save  the  world.  Thus  the  best 
qualified  to  test  the  foundation  of  faith  furnishes  the 
world  with  the  highest  possible  testimony  of  its 
faithfulness.  This  brings  us  to  our  subject — Faitli's 
J' ait li fill  I'ouudaliou. 

Tlie  apostle  emphasizes  three  truths  in  the  text 
which  are  vital  to  Christianity  and  form  the  founda- 
tion of  faith. 


170  GLIMPSES    OF    GOT). 

I.        THE    FAITHFULNESS    OF    THE     GOSPEL 
AS    A    HISTORICAL     FACT. 

"  Jesiis  Christ  came  into  the  world. "  Concern- 
ing this  greatest  fact  of  all  history,  no  alternative  is 
possible  to  man  save  to  accept  as  a  "  faithful  say- 
ing. ' '  All  men  capable  of  belief  have  faith  in  the 
historic  Jesus.  Regarding  the  broad  lines  of  the 
life  of  Christ,  such  as  the  birth  of  Bethlehem,  the 
immaculate  character,  incomparable  life  and  the 
matchless  majesty  of  the  death  of  Calvary,  all 
men  declare  ' '  faithful  saying. ' '  The  historical 
records  relative  to  the  life  of  Jesus  are  invulner- 
able in  their  argument  and  undeniable  in  their 
proof  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world.  The 
evidences  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  world  are  so 
unquestionably  true  that  whoever  denies  the  fact 
dethrones  his  reason,  and,  if  consistent,  will  be 
forced  to  reject  the  everything  of  history  and  the 
history  of  everything.  But  the  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  world  is  an  established  fact.  Paul  claims, 
moreover,  not  only  that  Jesus  was  in  the  w^orld  but 
that  Christ  "  came  "  into  the  world.  This  implies 
His  prehistoric  existence  and  embraces  the  great  doc- 
trine of  the  Incarnation.  This  is  the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  faith.  Christianity  rests  on  this  fact. 
Reason,  revelation  and  religion  make  the  Incarna- 


FAITH  S    FAITHFUL    FOUNDATION.  lyt 

tion  imperative.  Without  the  Incarnation,  without 
revelation  ;  without  revelation,  without  religion. 
Therefore,  reason  declares  that  if  this  foundation 
fact  be  not  found  firmly  and  faithfully  established, 
that  the  whole  fabric  of  faith  must  inevital)ly  fall. 
The  prevalence  of  the  religious  instinct  in  man, 
and  the  existence  of  a  universal  need,  which  nothing 
less  than  God  revealed  in  flesh  could  satisfy,  neces- 
sitate belief  in  the  Incarnation. 

It  is  necessary  to  believe  with  Paul  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God,  before  faith 
in  Him  as  a  Saviour  is  possible.  If  proof  of  His 
Divinity  is  not  accessible  to  man,  and  sufficient  to 
convince  an  unbiased,  sincere  seeker  of  its  truth- 
fulness, then  He  is  not  the  Son  of  God.  No  man 
need  hesitate  to  test  this  truth,  and  he  who  hesitates 
is  less  than  a  man.  But  whoever  tests  faithfully 
and  fearlessly  will  sooner  or  later  stand  with  Paul 
on  the  firm  rock  of  Faith,  and  say,  "  Faithful  Say- 
ing. ' '  Immanuel  invites  and  inspires  independent, 
intelligent,  impartial  inquiry.  He  who  refuses  to 
receive  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation,  and  thus 
recognize  the  Divine  and  the  human  in  Jesus,  will 
either  be  forced  to  lose  his  bearings  amidst  the 
mental  maze  and  bewildering  labyrinth  of  unbelief, 
or  compelled  to  cut  his  way  inch  by  inch  from  the 
dungeon   of   doubt   to   the    freedom  of  faith.     We 


172  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

must  believe  in  His  existence  in  the  world,  and  His 
existence  before  He  came  into  the  world,  or  be 
overwhelmed  by  the  inexplicable  difficulties  of 
doubt.  If  we  deny  Christ's  coming  into  the  world, 
how  will  we  account  for  the  fact  that  He  is  the 
center  of  history,  and  that  everything  that  ever  took 
place  in  the  world  has  its  historic  position  deter- 
mined by  its  approach  to,  or  remoteness  from,  the 
great  central  fact — Jesus  Christ?  Is  it  probable 
that  the  axis  of  human  history,  or  the  sun  from 
which  radiate  and  to  which  converge  all  the  light 
and  energy  of  life,  around  which  center,  cluster  and 
revolve  in  a  rich  galaxy  the  innumerable  facts  and 
factors  of  the  world's  history,  is  only  a  myth  or  only 
a  man?  "Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world. "  If 
He  did  not,  how  can  we  account  for  the  Gospels  as 
records  and  as  results?  They  are  in  the  world,  and 
they  demand  recognition.  If  we  deny  the  Incar- 
nation, it  is  simply  impossible  to  account  for  the 
New  Testament.  He  who  rejects  the  Incarnation, 
which  is  a  mystery  of  light,  will  be  compelled  to 
accept  the  self-evident  contradiction  that  fancies 
are  more  potent  than  facts,  which  is  a  mystery  of 
darkness.  The  Gospels  inust  be  true  or  false. 
They  chronicle  facts  or  fancies,  and  it  ought  to  be 
easy  to  decide  which.  As  records,  they  are  authen- 
tic or  spurious.      If  authentic,   then  Jesus   Christ 


FAITHS    FAITHFUL    FOUNDAITOX.  173 

"came  into  the  world. "  But  if  spurious,  liow  are 
we  going  to  explain  their  existence  and  tlic  exist- 
ence of  belief  in  their  authenticity?  It  is  not  witli- 
in  the  limits  of  human  credulity  to  believe  that  the 
men  who  wrote  the  Gospels  would  chronicle  as  facts 
things  they  knew  to  be  mere  fabrications,  and  force 
them  upon  their  fellow  men  as  faithful  records, 
when  they  had  nothing  to  gain  and  everything  to 
lose  in  so  doing.  There  could  be  no  motive  to 
fraud.  If  spurious,  why  were  they  written?  How 
did  it  happen  that  men  of  different  mental  caliber, 
in  different  places,  at  different  times,  without  any 
possibility  of  collusion,  should  have  written  from 
different  standpoints  the  same  statements  and  story? 
The  Gospel  records  are  in  all  essentials  identical, 
and  we  know  that  truth  alone  is  homogeneous, 
^loreover,  if  spurious,  how  will  we  account  for  the 
fact  that  for  over  eighteen  centuries  they  have  been 
accepted  as  true  by  men  of  unquestionable  intel- 
ligence and  undeniable  integrity?  Yea,  by  the  best 
men  in  every  sense  of  the  word  that  have  ever  lived; 
men  endowed  with  every  faculty  and  possessing  every 
facility  to  rightly  estimate  the  evidences  of  the 
truthfulness  of  the  Gospel.  These  men  not  (jnly  ac- 
cepted the  Gospel  records  as  true,  but  many  of  them 
suffered  persecutions,  risked  their  lives  and  sealed 
their  belief  with   their  blood.     If  spurious,  then  by 


174  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

universal  consent  the  stiblimest  ethical  teaching,  the 
greatest  moral  truth,  the  mightiest  factor  in  the 
uplifting  of  humanity  is  —  a  lie.  The  power  which 
makes  for  righteousness  is  —  unrighteousness  ;  the 
world's  Magna  Charta  of  liberty,  law  and  life  is  — 
the  fruit  of  fraud  and  fanaticism.  The  power  which 
educates,  emancipates,  elevates  and  ennobles  hu- 
manity is  —  superstition  and  deception.  Reason 
unites  with  revelation  in  declaring  "  Faithful  is  the 
saying  .  .  .  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world, ' '  for 
without  Christ,  and  without  Christ  in  the  world,  and 
without  a  Christ  not  of  the  world,  the  Gospels  are 
simply  enigmas  of  errors.  Like  alone  can  produce 
like.  Hell  can  not  bring  forth  Heaven.  A  lie  can 
not  lead  to  truth,  neither  can  it  make  men  true. 
Reason  asserts  that  the  cause  must  be  as  great, 
or  greater,  than  the  effect.  The  Gospels  present  an 
effect  which  demands  a  supernatural  power  for  its 
cause.  The  Gospels  demand  Jesus  Christ,  and  Jesus 
Christ  demands  belief  in  the  Incarnation.  If  Christ 
came  not  into  the  world,  then  the  greatest  moral 
superstructure  is  without  foundation,  the  greatest 
system  of  truth  has  been  evolved  out  of  error  and 
has  systematized  itself.  The  hero  who  has  inspired 
thousands  of  heroes  to  deeds  of  holy  heroism  is  only 
the  creation  of  hallucination.  Such  a  conception  of 
Christianity  is  the  constmimation  of  contradiction. 


FAITH   S    FAITHFUL    FOUNDATION.  1 75 

With  Paul,  all  Christendom  unites  in  declaring-,  "This 
is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation  — 
that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world." 

II.        THE    FAITHFULNESS    OF    THE    GOSPEL 
AS    A    DOCTRINAL    FACT. 

"  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  siii- 
iio's/'  This  includes  faith,  not  only  in  Christ's 
presence  in  the  world,  but  in  His  mission.  To  Paul, 
Christ*was  in  the  world  in  order  to  save  it.  Of  all 
doctrine,  the  doctrine  of  salvation  is  the  most  im- 
portant to  humanity  and  vital  to  the  Christian  faith. 
It  can  not  be  measured  by  anything  save  the  love 
of  God.  It  embraces  Christ's  cradle  and  His  Cross, 
the  Incarnation  and  Atonement,  both  of  which  are 
based  on  the  truth  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah.  Many 
who  believe  in  the  historic  Jesus  deny  His  divine 
nature  and  necessarily  reject  His  divine  mission. 
Paul,  however,  could  not  understand  the  life  and 
death  of  Jesus  Christ  save  in  the  light  of  "  to  save 
sinners, ' '  for  to  deny  the  truthfulness  of  His  mission 
in  the  world  is  to  deny  Christ.  This  doctrine  of 
salvation  is  fundamental.  It  is  the  first  and  final 
fact  of  faith.  Without  it  the  Christian  faith  would 
be  without  foundation,  and  the  faith  that  is  without 
foundation  is  the  worst  form  of  folly  and  fanaticism. 
The  everything  of  Christ  is  invested  in  Christianity. 


176  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

The  everything  of  Christianity  is  invested  in — salva- 
tion. If  the  doctrine  of  salvation  can  not  be  estab- 
lished, then  both  Christ  and  Christianity  must  nec- 
essarily become  inexplicable  and  extinct.  But  if 
established,  Christ  is  enthroned  and  Christianity  is 
eternal.  This  doctrine  being  the  very  foundation 
of  faith,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  know  if  it 
be  faithful.  Is  the  doctrine  of  salvation  provable, 
or  even  probable?  Is  it  possible  to  test  its  truthful- 
ness? Paul  replies  that  it  is  a  "  faithful  saying. " 
This  implies  conviction  and  confidence  born  of  care- 
ful consideration  of  its  claims.  If  it  is  faithful,  there 
must  be  a  way  of  proving  its  faithfulness.  It  is 
impossible  to  believe  that  the  doctrine  which  is  most 
essential  to  the  happiness,  hope  and  Heaven  of  hu- 
manity is  incapable  of  proof  or  insufficientl}^  proven. 
Let  not,  however,  any  man  expect  to  be  able  to  ex- 
plain everything  in  connection  with  this  doctrine, 
for  like  God  it  must  necessarily  be  mysterious,  as 
mysteries  are  essential  to  faith.  The  function  of 
faith  is  to  follow  when  reason  fails.  Though  faith 
can  not  accept  that  which  is  denied  by  reason,  yet 
it  can  accept  that  which  reason,  unaided,  fails  to 
recognize.  Moreover,  if  faith  accepted  as  facts 
only  things  that  reason  has  indisputably  demon- 
strated, then  there  would  be  no  faith.  So,  while 
believing  that  there  are  irrefutable  arguments  and 


FAITH   S    FAITFfFUT,    FOUNDATION.  1 77 

undeniable  proofs  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  ac- 
cessible to  every  man,  yet  the  most  learned  and 
devout  minds  must  not  affect  to  comprehend  it. 
Let  every  man  approach  it  with  all  possible  modesty 
and  humility,  realizing"  that  the  i^randest  concep- 
tion of  the  Infinite  Mind  and  the  sublimest  expres- 
sion of  the  divine  Heart  must  forever  remain  greater 
and  more  glorious  than  the  greatest  and  most  glo- 
rious thoughts  of  the  greatest  minds  concerning  it. 
Nevertheless,  the  doctrine  must  be  such  that 
every  mind  can  more  or  less  appreciate  it.  Christ's 
mission  in  the  world  was  "  to  save  sinners."  This 
does  not  imply,  however,  that  He  would  have  had 
*no  mission  in  a  sinless  world.  Salvation,  in  its 
broadest  sense,  would  be  necessary  if  sin  had  never 
existed,  and  the  vSaviour  would  have  come  to  the 
world  had  man  never  sinned.  The  Incarnation 
would  have  been  a  divine  and  human  necessity  had 
man  remained  innocent.  It  would  have  been  neces- 
sary Godward,  because  it  is  the  most  intelligent 
and  invincible  expression  of  divine  love,  which  can 
not  but  manifest  itself.  It  was  necessary  to  the 
nature  and  purposes  of  the  Creator,  because  it  is  the 
most  sublime  manifestation  of  the  former  and  the 
only  successful  realization  of  the  latter.  Love's  best 
is  imperative  to  the  best  love,  and  the  best  of  love 
is  the   revelation  of  the  best  love  at  its  best.     Thus 


1 78  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  Incarnation  would  have  been  essential  in  a  sin- 
less world,  because  it  was  imperative  to  the  law, 
liberty  and  life  of  divine  love.  It  would  have  been 
necessary  manward  because  the  best  in  man  could 
not  be  at  its  best  until  it  had  seen,  at  its  best,  the 
best  in  God.  None  other  than  the  highest  mani- 
festation of  God  would  have  been  sufficient  to  equip 
man  for  his  highest  mission.  The  only  hope  of  the 
human  to  realize  the  highest  holiness  is  through  the 
highest  revelation  of  holiness  in  Him  who  is  and 
makes  holy.  The  Incarnation  was  necessary  to 
man  had  sin  not  existed,  because  Godliness  is  the 
goal  of  humanity,  and  the  Incarnation  is  the  genius 
and  the  Genesis  of  Godliness.  Jesus,  the  God-man, 
is  the  genius  of  God's  grace  to  make  man  God-like. 
God's  ideal  man  could  never  have  been  realized 
but  for  the  inspiration  man  received  from  God's 
ideal,  eminent  in  Emmanuel.  Thus,  though  the 
accident  of  sin  may  have  determined  the  form  of 
the  Incarnation,  yet  the  Incarnation  as  a  fact  and 
function  is  uninfluenced  by  it  because  indispensable 
and  eternal.  The  Incarnation  must  ever  have  re- 
mained the  most  invincible  impulse  of  Divine  Love, 
and  the  most  imperative  inspiration  of  human  life. 
Not  only  would  the  Incarnation  be  necessary  in  a 
sinless  world,  but  in  its  wider  sense  salvation  would 
be   necessary   had   m^an   never    sinned.      Salvation 


FAITH   S    FATTHFUT,    F<  UTN  DA 'IIf)X.  I  79 

means  not  only  to  be  saved  from  sin,  but  to  be  saved 
from  all  imperfection  and  the  possibility  to  sin. 
Had  man  remained  innocent,  he  would  be  still  im- 
perfect, and  if  imperfect,  in  need  of  salvation.  Sal- 
vation in  its  fullest  meaning  is  absolute  conformity 
to  the  image  of  God,  and  this  sanctification  is  impos- 
sible without  a  vSaviour  to  save  from  all  temptation 
to  sin.  But  whatever  the  influence  and  the  function 
of  the  Incarnation  might  have  been  in  a  sinless 
world,  we  know  that  its  function  in  a  sinful  world 
is  "  to  save  sinners."  This  is  what  the  Apostle 
claims  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  accomplish ; 
"  to  save  "  —  the  soul  from  individual  sin,  and  the 
race  from  collective  sin.  Tlic  doctrine  of  salvation, 
in  its  specific  sense,  involves  the  idea  of  sin.  If 
there  were  no  sin  in  the  world  and  no  guilt  Ijccause 
of  sin,  then  tliis  vScriptural  doctrine  of  salvation 
would  be  meaningless.  But  the  universal  sense  of 
sin,  and  the  earnest  efforts  of  universal  man  to 
atone  for  his  sins  and  appease  his  conscience  proves 
this  to  be,  involving  as  it  does  tlie  glory  of  (iod  and 
the  well-being  of  man,  of  all  doctrines  the  most  im- 
portant. There  is  a  universal  acknowledgment  of 
the  need  of  salvation,  and  this  in  itself  suggests  the 
possibility  of  salvation.  Let  us  incpiire  wliat  kind 
of  salvation  is  the  need  of  liumanity.  It  must  l)e 
salvation  from  sinning;  not  only  from  the  guiU  of 


l8o  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

sin  but  from  the  influence  of  sin;  redeeming  not 
only  from  the  penalty  and  punishment  but  also 
from  the  power  of  sin.  The  salvation  necessary  is 
physical  and  moral,  saving  the  body  and  the  soul, 
and  that  not  only  from  sin  but  from  all  evil — the  out- 
come of  sin.  It  must  not  only  be  salvation  in  time 
but  for  eternity,  and  not  only  great  enough  for  the 
soul  of  the  individual  but  for  the  need  of  the  whole 
world.  Now,  the  question  to  be  decided,  and  which 
is  fundamental  to  faith,  is  this:  Is  the  historic  Jesus 
whom  the  Apostle  proves  "  came  to  the  world  "  the 
Saviour  of  humanity?  Has  He  power  to  save  the 
world?  Is  He  willing  to  save  the  world?  Does  He 
save  the  world?  These  questions  lie  at  the  founda- 
tion of  faith,  and  on  the  answers  and  proofs  de- 
pends the  Faithfulness  of  the  Gospel  as  a  Doctrinal 
Fact.  Jesus  Christ  professes  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
who  came  to  the  world  for  the  express  purpose  of 
saving  sinners.  If  the  claim  of  His  divine  nature 
can  be  established,  then  the  trustworthiness  of  His 
testimony  as  to  His  own  mission  is  irrefutable,  so 
that  the  whole  argument  turns  on  the  question,  "  Is 
Jesus  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God?"  If  He  is  the 
Son  of  God,  then  is  He  the  only  and  all-eflicient 
Saviour  of  the  world.  Who  is  this  Jesus?  But  one 
of  two  answers  to  us  seems  possible;  the  Son  of 
God,  or   the    greatest   impostor   of   the    world.     It 


i8i 

ought  to  be  easy  to  decide  which.  Does  He  speak 
like  an  impostor?  Men  say,  "  Never  man  spake 
like  this  man."  His  words  are  universally  recog- 
nized as  the  wisest  and  holiest  that  have  ever  fallen 
on  the  ear  of  man.  His  authority,  originality  and 
spirituality  as  a  Teacher  have  ever  astonished  the 
master  minds  of  the  ages.  Rich  and  poor,  learned 
and  unlearned  have  for  nineteen  centuries,  in  sun- 
shine and  in  storm,  been  charmed  by  His  words  of 
love.  The  truths  which  He  declared  have  revolu- 
tionized the  world;  they  have  ever  been  the  might- 
iest force  for  making  man  noble,  kind  and  true. 
They  have  emancipated  man  and  enthroned  woman. 
They  have  set  a  premium  on  purity,  peace  and 
piety.  They  have  influenced  for  good  every  man 
who  has  honored  them.  They  have  found  their  way 
into  the  hearts  of  myriads  of  men  ;  they  have 
moulded  and  moved  every  mind  and  furnished  the 
motive  for  every  good  movement  since  they  have 
been  uttered.  They  are  the  perennial  spring  from 
whence  flowelh  the  philanthropy  and  the  love  of 
man.  Are  they  then  the  words  of  an  impostor? 
Did  He  live  like  an  impostor?  He  "  went  about 
doing  good."  He  is  universally  acknowledged  to 
be  the  greatest  philanthropist  of  the  world.  He 
gave  eyes  to  the  blind,  healed  the  bodies  of  men, 
raised  the  dead,  while  He  never  soiiglit  or  received 


1 82  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

reward.  Even  His  enemies  can  not  point  to  a 
single  flaw  in  His  character  or  a  single  selfish  act  in 
His  life.  Thousands  of  men,  the  best  the  sun  has 
ever  looked  down  upon,  have  received  their  inspira- 
tion from  His  life  and  are  living  again  His  life  of 
love.  His  life  has  influenced  the  head  and  the  heart 
of  humanity  and  made  men  generous,  great  and 
good.  Thousands  have  "  gone  home/'  to  glory,  like 
Elijah,  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  rather  than  deny  their  in- 
debtedness to  His  life.  Is  this  the  result  of  the  life 
of  an  impostor?  Did  He  die  like  an  impostor?  Are 
impostors  willing  to  die  to  immortalize  the  imposi- 
tions they  have  forced  on  their  fellows?  Is  His 
serenity  of  soul  and  calm  courage  in  the  agony  of 
death  the  creation  of  imposition?  Does  He,  while 
promising  Paradise  as  a  reward  to  the  penitent 
thief  and  praying  for  forgiveness  for  His  cruel  mur- 
derers, show  the  spirit  of  an  impostor?  If  an  im- 
postor, how  will  we  explain  the  influence  of  His 
death  on  humanit}^?  No  fact  has  so  moved  men, 
and  the  effect  of  no  death  has  been  so  universal, 
gaining  in  magnetism  and  might  as  the  centuries 
have  moved  on.  If  He  is  not  the  Son  of  God,  then 
the  life  and  death  of  Christ  are  inexplicable. 
Moreover,  it  is  impossible  to  explain  the  miracle  of 
the  Resurrection  if  Jesus  is  not  the  Son  of  God,  or 
to  explain  the   empty  tomb   without   accepting  the 


FAITHS    FAITHFUL    FOUNDATION.  iS^ 

miracle  of  the  Resurrection.  All  are  a^^reed  that 
the  body  of  Jesus  was  buried  in  a  new  tomb  hewn 
out  of  a  rock  and  that  a  lar^-e  stone  was  placed  at 
the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  which  was  sealed  with 
the  Roman  seal  and  L^-uarded  by  R(jman  soldiers. 
We  know  that  it  was  sure  death  for  any  one  to  tam- 
per with  that  grave  while  it  was  under  the  seal  and 
protection  of  Rome.  There  was  only  one  access  to 
that  sepulchre ;  we  know  tliat  the  body  was  not  in  the 
grave  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day.  And  now 
being  positive  of  two  facts,  we  arc  forced  to  account 
for  the  third.  We  are  all  agreed  that  He  was 
buried  in  that  tomb,  and  that  His  body  disappeared 
from  the  tomb.  We  are  forced,  therefore,  to  ac- 
count for  the  disappearance  of  the  body  from  the 
grave.  Only  one  of  three  explanations  is  possible: 
First,  His  enemies  removed  the  body;  Second,  His 
friends  removed  it,  or  Tliird,  Pie  "  rose  again  from 
the  dead."  Wliy  should  His  enemies  remove  the 
body?  All  their  hope  for  annihilating  the  influence  of 
Jesus  depended  upon  its  safe  keeping,  and,  moreover, 
if  they  possessed  anywhere  the  body  of  Jesus,  why  in 
tlie  name  of  common  sense  did  tliey  not  produce  it 
when  the  disciples  preached  the  Resurrection,  and 
thus  present  an  unanswerable  and  permanent  proof 
of  the  fallacy  of  the  Christian  faitli?  Tliat  they 
would  have  done  so,  had  it  been  possible,  is  proved 


184  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

beyond  all  question  by  the  persistency  with  which 
they  prosecuted  their  project  of  crushing  Chris- 
tianity in  crucifying  Christ.  It  was  absolutel}"  im- 
possible for  friends  to  have  removed  the  body  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  the  soldiers  guarding  the 
tomb.  Moreover,  conscious  and  criminal  conspiracy 
between  friends  and  foes,  culminating  in  removing 
the  body  and  hiding  it  and  the  detestable  and  dark 
deed  never  to  be  discovered  nor  disclosed,  is  incred- 
ible. No  sane  mind  can  a  moment  believe  that  the 
disciples  would  have  sacrificed  their  all,  yea  their 
lives,  to  convince  the  world  that  Jesus  rose  from  the 
dead  if  they  knew  His  body  was  rotting  in  an 
unknown  grave.  Their  deception  could  mean  noth- 
ing but  disgrace  and  death.  Therefore,  reason 
rejects  as  unsatisfactory  these  two  explanations  of 
the  removal  of  the  body  of  the  Redeemer.  These 
are  practically  the  only  two  attempts  of  unbelief  to 
solve  the  mystery  of  the  empty  tomb.  There  is, 
then,  no  alternative  but  to  believe  w^th  all  Christen- 
dom that  "  He  rose  again  from  the  dead,"  and  that 
the  miracle  of  the  Resurrection  is  the  doctrine  that 
has  created  the  church,  and  not  a  doctrine  that  the 
church  has  created.  The  fact  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion being  established,  the  truth  of  His  divine  na- 
ture can  nevermore  be  denied.  He  could  not  be 
deceived  as  to  His  Divinity  if  He  rose  again  from 


faith's  faithful  foundation.  185 

the  dead.  We  can  not  be  deceived  regarding  His 
Messiahship,  now  that  He  has  demonstrated  His 
authority  over  death  and  the  grave.  He  can  not  be 
less  than  Divine,  He  must  be  the  Son  of  God,  and 
as  such  His  words  must  be  faithful  and  His  testi- 
mony true.  He  asserts  that  "  God  so  loved  the 
world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  who- 
soever belie veth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  Therefore,  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion is  firmly  and  faithfully  founded  on  the  founda- 
tion of  all  doctrine — the  Divine  Sonship  of  Christ. 
He  came  to  "  seek  and  save  that  which  was  lost," 
or  in  the  words  of  Paul,  "  to  save  sinners."  The 
Gospel  is  true  as  a  doctrinal  fact.  Christianity  is 
the  power  of  (lod  unto  salvation.  Thank  (jod,  He 
came  into  the  world  "to  save  sinners."  Not  to 
build  churches  nor  create  creeds,  but  "  to  save  sin- 
ners." This  was  the  mighty  motive  of  the  mission 
of  the  Son  of  Man  among  men.  Millions  of  men  on 
earth  believe  this  truth,  and  while  ready  to  die  for 
their  faith,  join  with  the  myriad  hosts  of  the  re- 
deemed in  Heaven,  saying,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain."  This  is  a  "  faithful  saying — that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin- 
ners." 


l86  GLIMPSES    OF    GOi). 

III.        THE     FAITHFULNESS     OF      THE    GOSPEL 
AS    AN    EXPERIMENTAL    FACT. 

"  Of  whom  lam  chief."  The  most  indestruct- 
ible evidence  of  the  trustworthiness  of  Christianity 
is  the  testimony  of  individual  experience.  Chris- 
tianity is  well  attested  by  a  variety  of  evidence 
which  ought  to  appeal  clearly  and  concUisivcl}'  to 
all  classes  and  conditions  of  men.  The  same  evi- 
dence will  not  appeal  to  all  minds  with  equally  con- 
vincing force.  But  the  experimental  evidences  are 
well-nig-h  irresistible  in  their  appeal  at  all  times  to 
all  men.  This  is  the  proof  of  proofs.  Paul  liad 
tested  Christianity  and  found  it  verified  in  his  own 
life  as  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  He 
may  have  been  convinced  of  the  truthfulness  of  the 
Gospel  because  of  its  faithfulness  as  a  historical  and 
doctrinal  fact,  but  after  all  the  argument  of  argu- 
ment was  that  he  himself,  the  chief  of  sinners,  was 
being  saved.  It  is  claimed  that  Christianity  is  Chris- 
tianity only  to  the  Christian.  There  is  certainly  one 
sense  in  which  this  is  true.  No  man  can  appreciate 
Christianity  until  he  embrace  it.  No  man  will  re- 
alize its  strength  until  he  lays  his  weight  upon  it, 
or  understand  its  influence  until  he  experiences  it 
in  his  own  life.  This  practical  test  of  Christianity 
is  the  most  potent,  accessible  and  permanent  proof 


FAITH  S    FAITHFUL    FOUNDATION.  187 

of  its  power.  While  many  men  are  unable  to  test 
Christianity  by  logic,  all  men  can  test  it  by  life.  It 
is  a  marvelous  thing,  however,  that  those  who  are 
most  dependent  upon  this  proof  are  so  slow  in  rec- 
ognizing and  appreciating  its  power.  Paul  had 
taken  Christ  at  His  word  and  trusted  Him  for  his 
life,  and  the  Saviour's  faithful  fulfillment  of  all  His 
promises  to  Paul,  amidst  all  the  changes  of  his 
changeful  career,  established  him  eternally  in  his 
conviction  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  His  faith  had 
become  a  part  of  his  very  nature  and  was  indestruct- 
ible. Paul,  to  himself  and  to  all  others,  would  ever 
be  an  unsolved  problem  were  Christianity  not  true. 
There  are  millions  of  men  confident  that  Jesus  is 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  who  are  ready,  if  needs 
be,  to  die  for  their  faith.  These  men,  unless  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  are  inexplicable.  Their  belief  has 
revolutionized  their  characters.  They  are  men  of 
intelligence  and  integrity.  Without  conti'oversy 
they  are,  as  a  class,  the  most  honest,  hopeful,  happy, 
and  luimane  of  men.  What  will  we  do  with  their 
testimony?  We  can  not  disregard  it,  neither  can 
we  destroy  it.  Are  these  men  deceived,  or  do  they 
deceive?  Is  it  not  improbable  that  the  best  men,  in 
every  sense  of  the  word,  that  have  ever  been  in  the 
world  should  alone  have  been  thus  deceived?  Is  it 
not   incredible   that   the   most    rational    men  should 


1 88  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD, 

on  this  point  alone  become  irrational?  No  single 
motive  to  fraud  can  be  fcmnd.  Reason  dare  not 
call  these  men  deceivers.  The  best  proof  of  what 
Christianity  is  will  always  be  what  Christianity 
does,  not  what  it  professes,  but  what  it  practices. 
It  is  right  and  reasonable  that  it  should  be  thus 
tried.  If  it  is  the  only  true  religion  it  must  bear 
unmistakable  evidence  in  its  history  of  that  fact. 
It  professes  to  have  come  unto  the  world  to  save 
the  world.  It  has  been  here  for  eighteen  centuries. 
What  has  it  done  toward  realizing  this  purpose? 
Look  around  you  and  see.  Scan  the  pages  of  his- 
tory and  you  will  undoubtedly  find  sufficient  evi- 
dence to  convince  you  whether  Christianity  is  of  God, 
or  of  man.  You  ought  to  find  out  which  immedi- 
ately, and  as  you  are  a  man,  take  your  position  ac- 
cordingly. If  it  is  of  man,  you  owe  it  to  yourself, 
to  society  and  to  God  to  lend  all  your  influence 
against  it,  convincing  those  who  embrace  it  of  their 
fanaticism  and  folly.  Remember  well,  however, 
that  you  should  believe  as  thoroughly  that  it  is  of 
man  as  do  others  that  it  is  of  God  before  you  un- 
dertake to  oppose  it,  lest  you  be  found  fighting 
against  God.  Unless  you  are  as  ready  to  die  for 
your  conviction  as  the  Christians  are,  you  dare  not 
challenge  it.  But  if  you  have  arrived  at  this  posi- 
tion, go  ahead.     On  the  other  hand,  if  it  is  found  to 


FAI'IH's    1  Ari'HFUT,    FOl^Nl)  A  TION.  189 

be  of  Ood,  you  arc  in  duty  bound  to  embrace  it  and 
to  lend  all  your  influence  to  brini^  all  its  enemies  to 
do  the  same.  To  refuse  to  investigate  the  claims 
of  Christianity  is  criminal  ;  to  reject  it  when  its 
claims  have  been  established  is  cowardice.  The 
sin  which  is  most  damaging  to  character  and  most 
dangerous  to  life  is  —  indecision.  The  question 
Elijah  put  to  Israel  was  never  more  pertinent  than 
it  is  to-day  —  "How  long  halt  ye  between  two 
opinions  ?"  If  Christianity  is  true,  why  do  you  not 
embrace  it  ?  It  has  created  Christendom,  the  prog- 
ress and  prosperity  of  which  are  but  the  practical 
expression  of  the  principles  of  the  Prince  of  Peace. 
It  has  made  slavery  impossible.  When  it  entered 
the  world  there  were  no  hospitals,  but  to-day  these 
charitable  institutions,  ameliorating  the  sufferings 
of  humanity,  are  found  everywhere.  The  greatest 
moral  force  in  the  world  to  lessen  crime,  sin,  suffer- 
ing, sorrow  and  shame,  to  uplift  the  fallen,  to  eman- 
cipate the  oppressed,  to  ennoble  the  ignoble  and  to 
make  the  sinful  holy,  is  by  universal  consent  — 
Christianity.  The  testimony  of  the  best  men  of  the 
world  is  that  it  satisfies  the  best  nature  of  the  best 
men.  Can  that  which  docs  this  be  untrue?  Can  that 
wliich  satisfies  the  longing  of  the  universal  heart 
with  its  answers  to  the  deep  questions  that  have 
harassed   it   be    less  than  Divine  ?     Must  not   that 


190  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

which  is  declared  by  humanity,  when  at  its  best,  to 
satisfy  its  best  needs  be  the  final  religion  of  man? 
If  true,  why  not  accept  it  ?  The  best  evidence  that 
any  Christian  can  offer  of  the  truthfulness  of  the 
Gospel  is  to  manifest  its  influence  on  his  own  life. 
Many  wdio  could  not  offer  an  argument  of  any  value 
in  words,  present  an  argument  in  life  which  is  irre- 
sistible and  invaluable.  If  you  want  to  convince  the 
world  that  the  Gospel  is  true,  manifest  its  influence 
on  your  own  character  and  in  your  own  life.  Fire  has 
failed  to  burn  this  conviction  out  of  the  soul  of  the 
martyrs,  and  swords  have  failed  to  drive  men  to  deny 
it,  because  it  is  "  A  faithful  saying.  "  The  Pharisees 
could  argue  the  man  born  blind  out  of  many  a  posi- 
tion, but  no  logic  in  the  universe  can  argue  a  pair  of 
eyes  out  of  a  man's  head.  Christianity's  choice  chal- 
lenge to  the  criticism  of  the  centuries  is  —  the  Chris- 
tian. What  can  be  more  convincing  or  conclusive  of 
Christianity's  claim  than  the  change  in  the  charac- 
ters of  those  who  cherish  it?  The  best  sermon  on 
the  science  of  salvation  is — a  soul  saved.  While  sin- 
ners are  transformed  into  saints  and  the  Gospel 
makes  men  Godlike,  Christianity,  in  all  that  is  essen- 
tial to  its  life,  is  indestructible.  Though  every  other 
tittle  of  evidence  be  lost,  though  all  the  Bibles  be 
burned,  though  churches  and  creeds  crumble,  and 
the  cosnios  of  theological  thought  become  chaos,  yet 


FAITHS    KAITHFUI,    FOUNDATION.  IQI 

while  men  are  ereated  into  new  ereatures  by  Christ 
Jesus,  Christianity  is  immortal.  The  most  tran- 
scendent and  telling  testimony  to  the  trustworthiness 
of  the  Gospel  is  the  transforming  tendency  of  its 
truth.  Thus,  of  all  appeals  the  appeal  to  experience 
is  the  strongest.  Paul  l^clieved  Christianity  because 
it  pointed  out  to  him  his  sinful  state,  a  sympathetic 
Saviour,  a  sufficient  and  sure  salvation.  He  had 
proved  it  true  in  that  it  rightly  diagnosed  his  dis- 
ease, furnished  the  right  remedy  and  realized  the 
right  results.  This  is  what  he  means  in  saying, 
"  Of  whom  I  am  chief."  He  realized  that  he  was 
a  sinner,  and  so  great  appeared  his  sin  that  he 
thought  he  was  the  "  chief  "  of  sinners,  but  the 
chief  of  sinners  savc(L  His  salvation  as  the  "  chief 
of  sinners  "  provided  him  with  his  chief  proof  that 
it  was  a  "  faithful  saying  "  that  "  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  This  must  ever  be 
so.  While  Christianity  shows  a  man  what  he  is, 
what  he  should  be,  and  how  he  may  become  what  he 
should,  while  it  reveals  a  ruined  race  redeemed  and 
unfailingly  points  to  man's  need  of  penitence,  pro- 
vides pardon  and  promotes  piet}^  and  peace,  it  will 
forever  remain  the  "  power  of  God  unto  salvation." 
While  Christianity's  most  essential  evidence  is  the 
experimental,  we  thank  God  that  Christianity  itself 
is  no  experiment.     It  has  been  well  tested.     The 


192  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

foundation  of  faith  is  a  "tried  stone."  Friends 
have  tried  it  and  they  have  ever  found  it  faithful. 
Enemies  have  scrutinized  it  but  have  failed  to  de- 
tect one  flaw,  and  indirectly  have  been  forced  to 
acknowledge  it  as  "  faithful."  Christianity  is  true 
as  a  historical  fact,  as  a  doctrinal  fact,  and  as  an  ex- 
perimental fact.  Faith's  Foundation  is  found  firm, 
and  our  souls  echo  the  words  of  the  Apostle,  "  This 
is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation." 
My  soul,  build  thou  on  this  foundation.  There  is 
no  other  that  will  stand  the  storms  of  time  and  the 
testing  of  eternity.  My  brother,  accept  this  salva- 
tion. It  is  worthy  of  all  acceptation ;  it  satisfies  the 
craving  of  the  soul  and  meets  the  universal  need  of 
the  universal  heart.  Every  conversion  proves  it 
and  Christendom  demonstrates  its  power.  The  con- 
scientiousness of  Christians  while  living,  their  con- 
fidence while  dying,  and  the  change  it  has  wrought 
in  our  own  characters,  make  it  imperative  that  we 
say,  "  faithful  saying." 


SIMEON  AND  THE  SAVIOUR. 

"  And  behold,  there  was  a  man  in  Jerusalem  whose  name 
was  vSimeon ;  and  the  same  man  was  just  and  devout,  waiting 
for  the  consolation  of  Israel:  and  the  Holy  Ghost  was  upon 
him.  And  it  was  revealed  unto  Inm  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that 
he  should  not  see  death  before  he  had  seen  the  Lord's 
Christ.  And  he  came  by  the  spirit  into  the  temple:  And 
when  the  parents  brought  in  the  child  Jesus,  to  do  for  Him 
after  the  custom  of  the  law,  then  took  he  Him  up  in  his  arms, 
and  blessed  God,  and  said.  Lord,  now  lettest  Thou  Thy  serv- 
ant depart  in  peace,  according  to  Thy  word:  For  mine  eyes 
have  seen  Thy  salvation,  which  Thou  hast  prepared  before 
the  face  of  all  people;  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles  and  the 
glory  of  Thy  people  Israel." — Like  2:  25-32. 

No  nation  is  poor  that  can  prodticc  a  character 
like  Simeon.  Any  people  may  glory  in  the  posses- 
sion of  such  strong,  serene  and  spiritual  sages. 
Such  men  are  the  "  chariots  of  Israel,  and  the  horse- 
men thereof  " — the  most  efficient  defense  of  the  life 
and  liberty  of  the  nation.  They  crystallize  the  na- 
tional ideals,  concentrate  the  national  energies,  con- 
solidate the  national  hope  and  constrain  the  national 
will.     Thev  create  the  national  conscience  and  arc 


194  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  champions  of  law,  liberty  and  life.  Any  nation  is 
immortal  to  the  extent  that  it  is  able  to  produce  such 
moral  magnets.  Simeon  was  one  of  the  choicest 
fruits  of  the  Old  Dispensation  in  which  the  wliole 
life  of  the  tree  seemed  concentrated,  which  ripened 
only  under  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness. The  Jewish  Economy  sang  its  last  and  sweet- 
est song  in  Simeon,  but  like  the  fabled  song  of  the 
swan,  it  was  the  song  of  death.  In  many  particulars 
Simeon  was  the  highest  product  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment religion.  He  was  an  ideal  Israelite.  We 
possess  only  the  fragmentary  portion  of  his  history 
contained  in  this  chapter,  yet  we  are  charmed  with 
what  we  are  privileged  to  know  of  him,  and  in- 
stinctively feel  drawn  to  him  by  the  tenderest  cords 
of  love.  History,  like  life,  is  to  be  valued  not  by 
its  length,  but  by  its  breadth  and  depth.  Moreover, 
any  history  that  chronicles  the  last  scene  of  life  con- 
tains all  that  is  necessary  to  enable  us  to  understand 
the  development  of  that  life.  Hence,  the  last  chap- 
ter of  any  life  is  much  more  instructive  than  the 
first.  The  sun  is  never  more  magnificent  than 
when  it  sets  in  the  golden  glory  which  it  has  pre- 
pared to  adorn  its  eventide.  He  who  is  privileged 
to  see  the  fruit  of  any  tree  may  well  know  the  beauty 
of  its  blossom,  but  he  who  sees  a  tree  in  blossom  is 
never  sure  what  the  fruit  will  be,  for  many  a  tree 


SIMEON    AND     IHK    SAVIOIJK.  I95 

blossoms  well  on  which  fruit  never  jj^rows.  He  who 
stands  with  vSinieon  in  his  last  days  and  witnesses 
the  high-water  mark  of  his  life  may  well  know  of 
the  ebb  and  flow  in  his  history.  So  that,  although 
this  story  of  a  soul  seeking  the  Saviour  is  incom- 
plete, yet  it  is  invahudDle  and  immortal.  The  more 
spiritual  the  life,  the  more  impossible  it  is  to  clothe 
it  in  language.  The  deeper  flows  the  stream  of 
life,  the  less  there  will  be  concerning  it  that  words 
can  tell.  A  great  life  is  so  unostentatious  that  men 
do  not  appreciate  its  greatness  until  its  light  has 
burned  out.  This  short  story  of  Simeon,  the  sainted 
sage,  like  all  written  under  the  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  is  sublime,  simple,  salutary  and  suffi- 
cient. It  gives  us  the  history  of  the  transformation 
of  an  ideal  Israelite  into  an  ideal  Christian.  It  is 
not  only  interesting  and  instructive  as  the  history 
of  an  individual  conversion,  but  as  typical  and  first 
fruit  of  the  rich  harvest  which  will  be  gathered  into 
the  Heavenly  (iarner  when  the  Jews  as  a  nation  ac- 
cept Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  We  like  to  remember 
that  vSimeon  was  permitted  to  see  Jesus  before  the 
wise  men  were  privileged  to  worship  Him.  A 
divine  propriety  is  strongly  implied  in  the  order  in 
which  men  came  to  do  homage  to  the  child  Jesus. 
The  shepherds  were  the  first  to  come,  then  Simeon, 
then    the    wise     men.      Jews    first,    then   (jcntiles. 


196  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

Peasant  first,  prophet  second,  priests  third ;  labor 
first,  law  second,  learning-  third.  How  natural  is 
this  order.  The  sons  of  toil  —  the  shepherds  —  did 
homage  to  the  Good  Shepherd;  Simeon,  the  ideal 
Israelite,  saw  the  light  of  the  Gentiles;  the  wise 
men  from  the  East  worshipped  the  King  of  the 
Jews.  Labor  was  never  more  sacred  or  success- 
ful than  when  it  sought,  tlirough  the  shepherds, 
the  sympathy  of  the  Saviour  and  identified  itself 
with  Him  who  had  identified  Himself  with  labor. 
Toil  is  only  triumphant  when  in  touch  with  truth. 
Ecclesiasticism  was  never  more  exalted  than  when, 
in  the  person  of  Simeon,  it  embraced  Emmanuel. 
Theology  and  religiosity,  the  law  and  the  prophets, 
were  never  so  glorified  as  when,  in  the  person  of 
Simeon,  they  recognized,  received  and  rejoiced  in 
the  Lord's  Christ.  Philosophy,  science  and  culture 
were  never  so  ennobled  and  enriched  as  when,  in 
the  person  of  the  wise  men,  they  fell  at  the  feet  of 
the  "  King  of  the  Jews."  Wisdom  is  never  so  wise 
as  when  it  welcomes  and  worships  Him  who  is  the 
wealth  of  all  wisdom.  Whatever  claim  these  wise 
men  had  to  wisdom  previous  to  this,  they  established 
it  beyond  all  controversy  when  they  allowed  the 
star  to  lead  them  to  the  sun,  and  sought  in  the  right 
spirit,  in  the  right  season  and  in  the  right  sphere, 
for  the   vSaviour.     All  classes  and  conditions  meet 


SIMEON    AND    TTfE    SAVIOUR.  I97 

aroiind  the  cradle  of  Christ  as  they  do  around  His 
cross;  the  poor  and  rich,  unlettered  and  learned, 
Jew  and  Gentile.  They  were  all  led  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  thon<i^h  He  employed  different  agents  in 
o-uiding  them.  He  led  the  shepherds  throuL^-h  mu- 
sic, Simeon  throui^-h  Moses  and  the  prophets,  the 
wise  men  through  the  star.  It  is  ever  thus.  The 
Spirit  guides  men  to  the  Saviour  through  the  strong- 
est faculty  of  their  being,  whether  it  be  for  song, 
Scripture  or  science.  In  reality,  neither  art,  revela- 
tion nor  science  have  an}'  value  onl}'  as  they  lead 
men  to  the  Saviour  and  do  homage  to  Hiin  who  is 
their  life  and  light.  The  three  never  rise  higher 
than  wlien  at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  While  we  are  in- 
terested in  all  who  were  privileged  to  gather  around 
the  child  Jesus,  we  are  especially  interested  in  vSim- 
eon.  He  seems  to  get  into  closer  touch  with  Jesus, 
to  interpret  the  child  and  understand  the  Incarna- 
tion, with  its  influence  upon  humanity  and  Ileaven, 
as  did  none  of  the  others.  He  alone  saw  the  uni- 
versal Saviour,  who  was  not  only  the  glory  of  the 
people  of  Israel,  but  "  a  light  to  the  Gentiles."  He 
alone  understood  that  no  corner  or  crevice  of  the 
moral  world  would  be  left  destitute  of  tlie  reveal- 
ing, the  purifying  and  tlie  life-giving  light  of  the 
sun  of  righteousnesss.  He  alone  had  a  glimpse  of 
the  atoning  work  of  the  Redeemer  and  saw  that  the 


190  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

King  would  only  be  crowned  when  crucified.  All 
the  light  given  in  scattered  rays  to  the  prophets  was 
Slathered  too-ether  in  the  sonl  of  Simeon  and  focused 
on  Christ.  Simeon  was  in  ver}'  truth  a  prophet. 
He  saw  with  prophetic  eye  the  mission  of  the  Son 
of  Man  in  the  world  and  the  opposition  of  the  world 
to  the  Saviour.  He  saw  the  suffering  of  the  Sin- 
less on  account  of  sin,  and  sought  to  make  known 
the  Saviour's  sympathy  for  the  sinner.  Is  not  this 
ever  the  work  of  the  prophet?  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  first  intimation  of  his  prophetic  fac- 
ulty is  given  when  he  beholds  the  Lord's  Christ. 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  Genesis,  as  well  as  the  goal  of 
prophecy.  AVe  can  not  but  feel  grateful  that  the 
starlight  of  prophecy  should  lose  its  lustre  only  in 
the  fulfillment  of  all  prophecy — the  rising  of  the 
sun  of  righteousness.  What  more  natural  than  that 
the  light  of  the  stars  should  be  lost  only  in  the  light 
of  the  sun  ?  Starlight,  however  valuable  in  the 
night,  is  superfluous  in  the  sunlight.  But  he  who 
has  not  eyes  to  see  the  one  can  never  behold  the 
other.  He  who  does  not  appreciate  the  light  al- 
ready received  and  is  faithful  to  the  truth  already 
revealed  can  never  receive  a  greater  revelation. 
The  joy  of  anticipation  and  the  pleasure  of  seeking 
truth  are  imperative  to  the  delight  of  realization. 
He  who  is  appreciative  of  the  knowledge  already 


SIMEON    AND    THE    SAVlOUR.  I99 

possessed  will  inevitably  be  rewarded  with  i^-reater 
knowledge.  Simeon's  nature  was  appreciative.  He 
"  waited  for  the  consolation  of  Israel."  He  highly 
valued  the  truth  already  revealed,  and  diligently 
sought  to  qualify  himself  for  the  realization  of  the 
greater  truth.  He  did  not  bemoan  the  disadvan- 
tages under  which  he  lived,  but  earnestly  sought  to 
adapt  himself  to  profit  by  greater  privileges  when  it 
would  please  God  to  grant  them.  Thus  he  proved 
himself  to  be  an  ideal  seeker  for  salvation.  Indeed 
everything  about  him  seems  ideal.  He  possessed 
an  ideal  spirit,  made  an  ideal  search  for  the  Saviour, 
which  was  crowned  with  ideal  success.  The  story 
of  Simeon  teaches  us  the  secret  of  success  in  seek- 
ing the  Saviour,  hence  our  subject — Siificoii  ajid 
the  Saviour. 

No  one  can  but  be  impressed  by  Simeon's  impos- 
ing personality,  as  portrayed  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
His  character  is  delineated  with  such  delicacy  and 
precision  that  we  are  able  to  read  his  very  thoughts 
and  to  look  into  his  very  soul.  This  analysis  of  his 
character  compresses  the  intimacy  of  years  into  the 
compass  of  an  hour's  communion.  He  who  is  priv- 
ileged to  look  upon  this  picture,  if  but  for  a  moment, 
can  not  fail  to  perceive  that  Simeon  possessed  pre- 
eminently all  the  essential  qualifications  of  the  seeker 
for  salvation. 


260  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 


SIMEON    AS    A    SEEKER. 


Simeon  is  representative  of  that  class  of  master 
minds  who  have  made  all  the  great  discoveries  of 
the  world.  He  is  t3^pical  of  the  honest  inquirer  and 
the  successful  seeker  for  truth.  He  was  "just," 
that  is,  righteous  in  all  his  dealings,  full  of  moral 
integrit}^  and  uprightness,  a  man  not  only  honest 
in  deed  but  honest  in  heart.  He  was  impregnable 
in  justice  and  the  soul  of  sincerit3^  Honesty  of 
heart,  sincerity  of  spirit,  are  qualities  ever  impera- 
tive to  successful  research  for  all  truth.  He  who 
is  not  honest  would  only  mock  truth,  and  "  God  is 
not  mocked."  He  was  not  only  "just,"  but  ",  de- 
vout,"  that  is,  he  humbled  himself  in  the  presence 
of  holiness.  He  reverenced  righteousness  and 
trembled  in  the  presence  of  truth.  The  Almighty 
filled  him  with  awe;  the  Infinite  and  the  Inscrut- 
able inspired  him  with  a  sense  of  insignificance. 
He  who  pays  no  homage  to  holiness  can  never 
enter  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the  temple  of  truth. 
He  who  would  enter  the  temple  of  truth,  of  nature 
or  of  grace  must  do  so  on  his  knees.  God  can  not 
reveal  Himself  to  the  haughty;  without  humility  as 
well  as  holiness  no  man  can  see  the  Lord.  The  H0I3' 
One  ever  holds  communion  with  the  humble  of 
heart.     There  must  ever  be  affinit}'  between  the  seek- 


StMEON    AND    THE    SAVIOUR.  20t 

er's  spirit  and  the  truth  soiig-ht.  He  who  is  hmnhled 
in  the  presence  of  truth  shall  alone  by  truth  be  ex- 
alted. Arrogance  in  the  realm  of  truth  is  arrested 
and  annihilated  by  the  arm  of  the  Almighty.  "  The 
secrets  of  the  Lord  are  with  them  that  fear  Him," 
and  with  them  only.  This  fear  is  not  only  a  condi- 
tion on  which  God  promises  to  reveal  Himself,  but  a 
quality  of  spirit  essential  to  understand  and  appre- 
ciate the  things  of  God.  A  pure  heart  and  a  de- 
vout spirit  are  necessary  qualifications  to  see  God. 
Selfishness,  self-sufficiency  and  sensuality  will  dim 
the  spiritual  sig-ht  and  destroy  the  moral  sensibil- 
ity, which  is  imperative  to  spiritual  vision.  Sanctity 
of  soul,  sincerity  of  spirit  and  self -surrender  are 
the  three  imperative  conditions  of  spiritual  sight. 
Simeon  was  "just  and  devout. ' '  Both  qualities  must 
ever  meet  in  the  soul  of  the  successful  seeker  for 
truth.  Honesty  and  humility  are  imperative  condi- 
tions of  successful  investigation.  A  nian  may  be 
just  without  being-  devout,  honest  without  being 
humble,  but  he  can  not  be  devout  without  being 
just,  humble  witliout  being  honest.  No  man  wlio 
is  not  lionest  and  humble  can  make  any  great  dis- 
covery; no  man  can  be  just  and  devout  without  get- 
ting into  touch  with  truth  and  being-  transformed  liy 
the  truth  he  touches.  Simeon  possessed  this  spirit, 
hence  the  Lord  told  him  His  secrets  and  enabled  him 


202  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

to  make  the  greatest  discovery  of  the  world — to  find 
the  Messiah.  Without  this  spirit  no  one  can  suc- 
ceed in  seeing"  the  vSaviour.  To  possess  Simeon's 
spirit  is  the  secret  of  success  in  seeing  Simeon's 
Saviour.  Simeon,  like  every  successful  seeker  for 
truth,  was  right  in  relation  to  Heaven  and  earth, 
"  devout  "  expressing  his  Godward  and  "  just  "  his 
manward  attitude.  He  faithfully  observed  the  two 
great  commandments  which  are  the  fulfillment  of 
the  law— loving  God  with  his  whole  heart  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself.  He  learned  of  God  that  he 
might  live  aright,  and  worked  wisely  in  the  world 
because  he  had  secured  wisdom  from  on  high.  He 
humbled  himself  in  the  presence  of  holiness,  and 
was  therefore  honored  in  the  presence  of  humanity. 
He  sought  to  understand  and  fulfill  his  duty  God- 
ward  that  he  might  be  made  a  blessing  manward. 
This  complete  character  alone  is  crowned  with 
special  revelation  of  truth.  The  religion  which 
completes  the  character,  perfects  our  entire  man- 
hood and  enables  us  to  be  right  in  all  the  relation- 
ships of  life,  is  alone  worthy  to  be  embraced.  No 
other  can  satisfy  the  soul.  It  alone  consecrates  our 
entire  being, —  soul,  body  and  spirit, —  and  brings 
all  our  faculties  under  tribute. 

Such   a  religion   inspires  us  to  make  the  best  of 
this  life   and   the  best  preparation   for  the   life  to 


SIMEON    AND     I'lIE    SAVIOUR.  203 

come.  It  Opens  our  hearts  like  the  fiower  to  receive 
the  lii^ht  and  love  of  Heaven,  that  we  might  glad- 
den the  heart  of  man  with  beauty  and  fragrance. 
Simeon  had  not  only  faith  and  love,  hut  hope;  not 
only  piety,  but  patience.  He  "  waited  for  the  con- 
solation of  Israel."  He  was  not  only  right  in  rela- 
tion to  humanity  in  general  but  to  his  own  nation 
in  particular.  He  was  not  only  pious  but  patriotic, 
and  patriotic  because  he  was  pious.  True  piet}'  is 
ever  patriotic  and  true  patriotism  is  ever  patient. 
The  national  hope  flourished  in  Simeon's  honest 
heart.  He  hoped  for  the  restoration  of  Israel  and 
longed  for  the  time  when  He  might  appear  who 
would  console  Israel.  He  was  well  versed  in  the 
history  of  his  people,  was  as  sanguine  as  an}^  in 
the  hope  for  the  redemption  of  Israel  and  the  res- 
toration of  the  honor  and  happiness  of  his  nation. 
He  was  patriotic  enough  to  be  sanguine  and  san- 
guine enough  to  "  wait."  Was  not  this  the  promise 
of  God  ?  Had  not  the  Messiah,  the  consummation 
of  national  hope,  been  promised  ?  God  would  sure- 
ly redeem  that  promise,  and  was  not  the  time  for 
tlie  fulfillment  of  tlie  prophecy  drawing  nigli  when 
the  given  Saviour  would  take  the  place  of  the  given 
signs?  He  looked  for  the  "consolation  of  Israel." 
He  lifted  up  liis  eyes,  and  shading  tliem  with  his 
hands  strove   to  see    His  approach.      It  was  not  a 


204  GLIMPSES    OF    GOB. 

passing  glance  with  which  he  scanned  the  scene,  but 
a  sincere,  stead}^  stare,  for  well  he  knew  that  He 
was  nigh.  His  soul  burned  within  him  with  joyous 
expectation  of  His  appearing.  What  a  time  of 
rejoicing  it  would  be  when  the  "  consolation  of 
Israel"  would  come!  The  national  sins,  with  their 
offspring,  suffering  and  shame,  would  vanish  in  the 
light  of  the  sun  of  righteousness  as  darkness  disap- 
pears when  the  sun  ascends  his  throne.  "  Consola- 
tion of  Israel."  That  name  contained  Simeon's 
heart,  hope,  happiness  and  Heaven.  What  a  beau- 
tiful and  expressive  name  for  the  Messiah  who 
would  enter  into  the  sorrows  of  Israel  with  a  S}^!- 
pathy  strong  enough  to  steal  away  their  sharpness! 
He  would  fill  their  hearts  with  holiness,  their  homes 
with  happiness  and  their  history  with  honor.  vSim- 
eon  had  compassion  for  his  people,  though  cognizant 
of  their  criminal  conduct,  and  confidence  in  God  for 
the  redemption  of  His  promise,  though  conscious  of 
his  nation's  crucial  condition.  Although  ever}^- 
thing  appeared  against  the  redemption  of  Israel, 
faithful  was  He  who  had  promised  and  mighty  in 
power.  He  would  surely  bring  it  to  pass.  Thus  he 
had  faith  in  God,  hope  in  Christ,  and  love  for  the 
divine  promises.  These  three  graces  never  meet 
in  any  character  without  attracting  another.  As 
the  three  young  men  in  the  fiery  furnace  enjoyed 


SIMEON    ANM)    'I'lIF.    SAVIOUR.  205 

the  constant  presence  of  "  one  like  unto  the  Son  of 
Man,"  so  fiiith,  hope  and  love  are  ever  crowned 
with  the  abiding  presence  and  the  unction  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  "The  Holy  Ghost  was  upon  him. " 
This  was  a  special  mark  of  divine  approbation,  given 
to  sanctify  the  servant  and  to  seal  the  service.  It 
was  a  reward  which  the  favorites  of  divine  love 
alone  were  privileged  to  receive.  But  God  has  no 
favorites,  save  those  who  are  faithful  above  their  fel- 
lows in  following  the  promptings  of  divine  love. 
All  such  will  be  favored  with  the  choicest  gifts  of 
Heaven.  The  presence  of  the  Spirit  was  an  addi- 
tional and  sure  sign  of  the  approach  of  the  Saviour. 
The  advent  of  tlic  Spirit  in  this  unique  manner, 
after  an  absence  of  four  hundred  years,  could  not 
but  be  suggestive  of  the  coming  of  Christ.  The 
Holy  Ghost  was  "  upon  "  Simeon,  not  in  him.  Not 
as  an  inward  principle,  but  as  an  outward  power; 
not  as  an  influence  guiding  from  within,  but  as  a 
force  directing  from  without.  This  is  the  way  in 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given  to  men  throughout 
the  history  of  the  world  until  the  Messiah  came. 
The  Holy  Spirit  never  made  the  heart  of  man  His 
home  until  Christ  came  to  dwell  in  human  nature. 
Indeed,  not  until  liuman  nature  was  glorified  in 
Christ's  Ascension  did  the  Holy  Spirit  take  up  His 
abode  in  man.      It  was  wlicn  Christ  entered  Heaven 


2o6  GIJMPSES    OF    GOD. 

as  the  representative  of  man  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
entered  the  human  soul  as  the  representative  of 
(tocI.  It  was  when  the  glory  of  Christ  filled  Heav- 
en that  the  glory  of  Heaven  filled  men.  Then  it 
was  that  men  like  Stephen  became  "  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Men  were  never  "_/z//cy/"  previous  to 
this.  Simeon  is  a  good  representative  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  under  the 
Old  Dispensation,  and  Stephen  of  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  given  under  the  New.  Thus,  Christ 
'^filled''  men  with  the  Holy  Ghost  as  He  had  ful- 
filled— filled  to  the  full — the  law  and  the  prophets, 
the  promises  and  all  the  purposes  of  God.  vSimeon 
had  faith  in  God  and  God  had  faith  in  vSimeon. 
Simeon  was  specially  interested  in  the  coming  of 
the  "consolation  of  Israel,"  therefore  God  mani- 
fested special  interest  in  him  as  a  seeker  for  salva- 
tion. "  It  was  revealed  to  him  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
that  he  should  not  see  death  until  he  had  seen  the 
Lord's  Christ. "  He  had  familiarized  himself  with 
the  Messianic  prophecies.  His  heart  burned  within 
him  as  he  read  of  the  wondrous  things  that  the 
Christ  would  accomplish.  Oh,  how  he  longed  for 
that  sacred  day  to  dawn !  Without  ceasing,  he  lifted 
up  his  heart  to  God  in  solemn  and  earnest  prayer, 
pleading  that  "  the  consolation  of  Israel  "  might 
come.      In  answer  came  the  divine  promise   that  he 


SIMEON    AND    THE    SAVlOTK.  207 

should  live  to  sec  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy. 
What  an  inexpressible  privilege  I  For  thousands 
of  years  men  had  longed  for  the  coming  of  the 
Tvord's  Christ.  Thousands  had  been  anxiously 
awaiting  Ilis  appearing,  but  faithful  priests  and 
prophets  had  been  forced  to  retire  to  rest  without 
having  their  one  desire  granted.  But  Simeon  is  to 
l)e  permitted  to  wait  and  is  assured  that  liis  eyes 
sliall  not  close  in  death  before  looking  on  tlie  light 
of  the  world.  This  strongly  suggests  a  special 
divine  arrangement.  It  is  the  only  suggestion  we 
have  of  the  age  of  this  saint,  but  no  one  has  failed 
to  read  the  sign.  Simeon  is  looked  upon  by  all  as 
a  very  aged  man,  one  whose  time  had  long  come  to 
sleep,  with  his  fathers,  in  his  mother's  bosom.  The 
chariot  of  death  is  arrested  by  Almighty  God.  The 
sliadows  of  his  day  are  lengthened,  his  "  life  is  in- 
sured." He  becomes  impregnable  to  the  darts  of 
disease  and  deatli,  holding  a  charmed  life  which 
death  had  not  courage  nor  power  to  assail.  He 
w^as  a  grand  old  tree,  towering  high  above  the 
ordinary  trees  in  the  forest  of  humanity,  wliicli 
Satan  had  oft  sought  as  fuel  for  his  fire,  but  wliich 
had  been  preserved  of  divine  grace  to  stand  until 
the  King  come  to  take  posst?ssion  of  His  estate.  He 
was  one  of  the  choicest  flowers  of  earth's  garden, 
l)crmitted  to  i)reserve  its  ruddy  glow  and  sweet  fra- 


2o8  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

grance  until  the  Master  come  at  eve  to  gather  it. 
Simeon  was  unwilling  to  die  until  the  "  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life  "  had  come  unto  the  world.  We 
are  not  surprised  at  this.  Death  was  a  dark  terri- 
tory, the  sphere  of  solemn,  sad  and  silent  shade, 
until  the  Saviour  came.  He,  however,  carried  the 
light  of  Heaven  into  the  grave  and  turned  the 
shadow  of  death  into  the  clear  light  of  morning. 
Simeon  feared  death  until  he  could  grasp  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  of  Life.  He  wanted  the  Light  of  the 
world  to  close  his  eyes,  and  the  Everlasting  Arms 
to  embrace  him  in  death.  He  might  have  consid- 
ered it  a  privilege  to  be  the  first  to  pass  over 
the  bridge  built  by  divine  love  between  earth  and 
Heaven.  He  wanted  to  see  the  Saviour  before  he 
saw  death,  and  this  is  the  secret  of  serenity  and 
safety  in  our  last  sleep.  Oh,  how  many  are  unfor- 
tunate enough  to  see  death  before  they  have  seen 
the  Saviour!  Simeon  did  not  want  to  leave  the 
world  until  the  Saviour  had  come  to  live  in  it.  The 
world  needed  his  services.  He  had  faithfully  kept 
vigil,  and  diligently  sought  to  keep  the  Father's 
house  in  order  until  the  Son  would  come.  No  man 
has  a  right  to  desire  to  die  if  he  can  do  good  to  any 
one  by  living.  While  there  is  a  soul  to  be  saved  or 
a  child  to  be  cared  for,  and  while  we  arc  able  to  do 
either,  it  is  selfishness  to  wish  to  die,  and   no  one 


SIMEON    AND    THE    SAVIOUR.  209 

has  a  rii^lit  to  be  selfish.  There  comes  a  time  in 
tlie  history  of  men  when  their  death  is  a  greater 
service  to  humanity  than  a  continuation  of  their 
life.  We  may  be  sure,  however,  that  God  makes 
no  mistakes,  and  when  He  extends  any  life  over 
the  decreed  length,  He  has  a  special  purpose  in  so 
doing,  and  a  mission  which  can  only  thus  succeed. 
It  is  probable  that  many  thought  that  Simeon  had 
outlived  his  usefulness.  What  further  service  could 
he  render  the  world?  He  was  but  a  burden  to  him- 
self and  a  care  to  others,  and  some  not  only 
wondered  why  he  lived  so  long,  but  were  impatient 
with  him  and  washed  he  might  die.  But,  however 
earnestly  men  desired  his  death,  he  could  not  die 
while  God  desired  him  to  live.  May  God  save  us 
from  manifesting  any  impatience  or  unkindness  to 
those  unfortunate  enough  to  outlive  their  welcome. 
Simeon  was  made  a  great  blessing  before  his  death. 
However  well  he  may  have  served  his  nation  pre- 
vious to  this,  it  was  in  his  dealings  with  the  child 
Jesus  at  the  close  of  his  career  that  he  rendered  the 
greatest  service  to  Israel.  Whatever  influence  his 
life  may  have  had  upon  humanity  previous  to  this, 
it  was  when  he  embraced  Christ  that  he  was  made 
the  greatest  blessing  to  the  centuries.  No  one  was 
better  qualified  than  Simeon  to  stand  in  the  temple 
and   royally  receive  Jesus,  the  Lord  thereof.     Who 


2IO  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

could  SO  totichingly  present  as  the  "  Lord's  Christ" 
to  the  world  the  child  Mary  so  tenderly  presented  to 
the  Lord?  No  one  could  so  efficiently  bear  testimony 
to  the  glorious  salvation  of  God,  or  so  pathetically 
interpret  the  Incarnation.  Had  Simeon  died  before 
this,  the  world  would  have  been  deprived  of  one 
of  its  grandest  pictures  and  .sweetest  songs.  The 
most  touching  tribute  paid  the  child  Jesus,  and  the 
choicest  trophy  won  by  Christianity  at  its  birth,  is 
the  tender  testimony  of  Simeon.  To  reveal  Christ  to 
the  world  is  the  greatest  service  any  soul  can  render 
humanity  or  Heaven.  Simeon  is  known  to  the 
world  only  because  he  sought  to  make  known  the 
Saviour.  The  life  of  every  man  is  immortal  to  the 
extent  that  it  makes  known  the  Lord's  Christ.  All 
who  have  seen  Jesus  seek  in  their  several  spheres 
to  make  Him  known  as  the  Saviour.  This  greatest 
privilege  of  life  is  granted  only  to  the  soul  that  has 
sought  the  Saviour  with  sincere  and  self-sacrificing 
love.  Simeon  was  an  honest  seeker  for  truth  and 
one  who  honored  all  the  conditions  of  salvation. 
God  rewarded  his  faith  as  He  does  every  faith,  with 
the  assurance  that  his  search  would  ultimately  be 
crowned  with  success.  He  is  told  that  he  should 
not  "  see  death  until  he  has  seen  the  Lord's 
Christ" 


SIMEON    AND     IHE    SAVIOUR.  211 

Ti.      Simeon's  search. 

Simeon,  like  every  suecessfiil  seeker  for  truth, 
realized  that  he  must  eonform  to  the  laws  of  in- 
vestig-ation  if  he  would  be  suecessful  in  the  re- 
seareh.  He  knew  that  speeial  diseovery  was  only 
possible  under  certain  unchani^'ini;'  conditions.  No 
sincere  seeker  expects  to  find,  save  that  for  which 
he  has  made  an  honest  search.  Thou^^-h  such  a  sure 
promise  had  been  given  Simeon,  he  wisely  under- 
stood it  to  have  been  given  conditionally.  lie  was 
conscious  of  the  necessity  of  co-operating  with  the 
Spirit  if  he  would  see  the  "  consolation  of  Israel." 
He  must  ever  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  obey 
every  divine  prompting  and  seek  to  be  sensitive  to 
every  touch  of  the  vSpirit.  Though  guidance  would 
come  from  the  Spirit,  obedience  must  come  from 
his  own  soul.  He  must  needs  go  to  the  King's 
Palace  if  he  would  meet  the  King.  Hence,  day  after 
day  he  "  goes  by  the  spirit  into  the  temple."  He 
intuitively  felt  that  he  would  meet  with  Him  there. 
vSurely,  one  of  the  first  places  the  vSon  would  visit 
on  arriving  in  the  earth  would  be  the  "  Father's 
House."  Thus  Simeon  sought  tlie  Saviour  in  the 
best  place.  The  sanctuary,  made  sacred  by  the 
soul-service  of  saints  and  sanctified  by  the  presence 
of  the   Spirit,   is  the  place  where  most  men  have 


212  GLIMPSES    OF    OOD. 

sought  and  found  the  Saviour.  Let  us  go  to  the 
Lord's  House,  if  we  would  meet  the  Lord.  Simeon 
sought  not  only  in  the  right  place,  but  in  the  right 
spirit.  He  went  "  by  the  spirit  into  the  temple." 
This  is  the  only  worthy  and  wise  way  in  which  to  go 
to  the  house  of  God, —  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Spirit,  walking,  like  Enoch  walked,  with  God.  No 
one  can  go  thus  tmless  they  have  love  in  their 
hearts,  faith  in  their  souls  and  praise-offerings 
on  their  lips.  Simeon  went  into  the  temple  in  the 
proper  spirit  because  he  went  for  the  supreme  pur- 
pose of  meeting  the  Saviour.  This  is  the  only 
worthy  motive  in  entering  the  house  of  God.  Sim- 
eon sought  in  the  best  spirit,  in  the  best  sphere,  for 
the  best  gift.  Heaven  approved  of  his  manner  and 
motive  as  a  seeker  for  the  Saviour,  and  therefore 
rewarded  his  search  with  success.  No  one  succeeds 
in  any  other  way;  no  soul  can  fail  that  seeks  in  this 
way.  Like  every  seeker  for  truth,  Simeon  had  his 
difficulties.  Every  success  worth  securing  implies 
struggle.  Simeon  had  much  to  discourage  him  and 
try  his  faith ;  many  times  had  he  been  to  the  temple, 
fully  expecting  to  meet  Jesus  there,  but  returning 
home  again  with  a  disappointed  heart  and  feeble 
step,  thinking  that  his  mission  had  been  a  failure. 
The  enemy  would  suggest  that  it  was  iiseless  for 
him  to  try  his  strength  in  thus  entering  the  temple 


«;iMEOK    AND    THE    SAVJOUR.  2  1^ 

only  to  be  disappointed.  He  would  surely  sleep 
with  his  fathers  loni>'  before  the  prophecy  would  be 
fulfilled.  What  si^ns  were  there  of  His  coming-? 
Moreover,  ever}^  ache  of  his  body  and  white  hair  in 
his  head  declared  that  his  dissolution  was  near,  and 
the  devil  would  oft  seek  to  employ  his  bodily  weak- 
ness to  weaken  his  faith.  But  faith's  most  fiery 
hour  of  trial  is  the  one  nearest  faith's  final  triumph. 
Simeon's  confidence  remained  unshaken  and  his 
faith  firm.  His  fidelity  to  the  divine  promptings 
proved  that  his  faith  was  unwavering,  for  faith  alone 
can  nourish  fidelit}'.  See  him  going  to  the  temple 
on  that  memorable  morn.  The  old  man  with  his 
bent  figure  stooping  gracefully  like  a  shock  of  corn 
in  its  season,  ripe  and  ready  to  be  gathered  into  the 
garner;  his  silvery  hair,  a  fitting  emblem  of  the 
purity  of  his  soul.  Love  lends  light  to  his  counte- 
nance and  hope  beams  in  his  eye.  Staff  in  one 
hand,  the  other  linked  for  support  in  the  arm  of  a 
friend,  slowly  he  moves  toward  the  temple  gate. 
His  friend  would  fain  dissuade  him  from  undertak- 
ing what  was  to  him  an  arduous  task.  With  trem- 
bling voice,  in  broken  words  full  of  emotion  and  the 
fervor  of  hope,  Simeon  replies,  "  My  Father  has 
promised  that  I  shall  not  sec  death  until  I  have  seen 
the  '  consolation  of  Israel,'  and  I  know  that  He  is 
faithful.      Moreover,    He   must    be   about   to    come. 


214  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

My  house  of  clay  is  crumbling  fast  and  the  nearer 
the  grave  I  am  getting,  the  nearer  is  the  approach 
of  the  Lord's  Christ.  I  am  more  anxious  than  ever 
to  visit  the  temple  to-day,  indeed,  the  attraction  is 
so  unusually  strong  that  I  am  almost  confident 
He  is  on  the  way  and  I  must  needs  be  in  the  temple 
to  welcome  Him.  After  waiting  so  long  I  must 
have  the  privilege  in  person  of  delivering  up  the 
keys  to  His  safe  keeping.  Nothing  could  keep  me 
home  to-day. ' '  The  temple  is  reached.  Among 
its  sacred  shrines,  what  holy  thoughts  occupy  his 
mind!  He  loves,  oh  how  ardently,  cver3^thing  con- 
nected with  that  grand  old  temple.  His  memory 
runs  over  scores  of  years  in  which  he  has  wor- 
shipped there.  His  comrades,  where  are  they  ? 
He  seems  to  be  the  onl}'  one  left.  Why  has  his  life 
been  spared  ?  Simply  because  the  Lord  is  faithful 
and  will  fulfill  His  promise  of  permitting  him  to  see 
the  Lord's  Christ  before  seeing  death.  He  bows 
*his  head  and  worships.  Earnestly  he  pleads  w4th 
Heaven  that  at  last  the  "  consolation  of  Israel  " 
might  come,  the  Saviour  appear.  The  prayer  ended, 
he  lifts  up  his  eyes,  and  his  gaze  is  fixed  upon  two 
humble  peasants  bearing  their  child  to  present  Him 
to  the  Lord.  At  the  very  sight,  indescribable  joy  fills 
his  heart  and  thrills  his  entire  being.  He  knows 
not  why,  until   the   Holy  Spirit   whispers  that   the 


SIMEON    AND    THK    SAVIOUR.  2t$ 

promise  made  so  long  ago  is  now  redeemed,  that 
the  Messiah  is  in  the  arms  of  that  peasant  woman. 
He  is  anxious  to  believe  the  word,  faith  fighting 
l)ravely  against  unbelief.  He  moves  forward,  won- 
dering within  himself  if  that  little  child  is  He  who 
will  redeem  Israel.  Is  it  possible  that  the  conso- 
lation of  Israel  is  that  helpless  babe?  Is  it  true 
that  of  all  humanity  those  two  humble  peasants  were 
chosen  of  Heaven  to  nurse  the  Saviour  of  the 
world?  Who  would  have  expected  Almighty  power 
to  be  incorporated  in  such  a  frail  frame?  How 
greatly  was  his  faith  tried,  but  in  spite  of  dark 
doubt  he  moves  on  until  he  has  reached  Mary,  and 
bending  over  her  shoulder  he  gazes  upon  the  face 
of  the  child  Jesus,  and  in  the  light  of  Heaven  v/hich 
flooded  that  countenance  his  doubt  disappears  and 
the  full  light  of  faith  fills  his  soul.  There  can  be 
no  mistake.  He  is  indeed  the  long-desired  One, 
the  "  consolation  of  Israel."  Mary  turns  and  looks 
admiringly  on  Simeon,  who  stands  transfigured  be- 
fore her,  and  whose  eyes  are  still  riveted  by  love  on 
the  child  she  loves  so  well.  Heaven  is  in  the  old 
man's  heart  and  his  heart  is  in  his  eyes.  Plesitat- 
ingly  he  asks,  ''  May  I  take  for  a  moment  thy  child 
in  my  arms,  my  daughter?  "  Mary  could  hardly  part 
with  Him  even  for  a  moment,  or  trust  to  any  one 
the  treasure  so  sacred  to  her,  but  there  is  so  much 


2l6  GTJMPSKS    OF    GOB. 

of  Heaven  in  the  old  man's  face  that  she  decides 
to  grant  his  request.  As  he  takes  the  child  in 
his  embrace,  in  tender  tones  he  says:  "  My  arms 
are  indeed  weak  and  feeble  to  hold  such  a  weight 
of  glory,  but  they  never  felt  stronger  than  now. 
No  harm  shall  befall  Him.  He  has  been  enthroned 
in  my  heart  for  many  long  years,  and  at  last  I  am 
permitted  to  embrace  Him.  What  high  honor! 
Heaven  can  grant  me  no  greater  privilege  than 
to  press  the  '  consolation  of  Israel '  to  my  heart. ' ' 
What  a  grand  picture!  Simeon  making  a  cradle 
of  his  arms  to  rock  the  Creator  of  the  world.  The 
aged  Jew^  and  the  child  Jesus.  The  Old  Covenant 
crowning  the  New.  The  Israelite  transformed  into 
a  Christian.  The  last  link  of  the  Old  Dispensation 
being  forged  by  love  into  the  New.  The  best  of 
earth  embracing  the  best  of  Heaven!  Thus  did 
Simeon  succeed  in  his  search  for  the  Saviour. 

III.      Simeon's  success  and  song. 

The  secret  of  Simeon's  success  is  that  he  sought 
in  the  right  spirit,  season  and  sphere.  He  sought 
thus  because  he  responded  perfectly  to  the  prompt- 
ings of  the  Holy  Spirit.  No  soul  will  succeed  in 
finding  the  Saviour  save  in  this  way;  no  soul  will 
seek  in  this  way  without  being  rewarded  with  suc- 
cess.     Implicit  confidence  in  God  and  absolute  obe- 


SIMEON    AND    THE    SAVIOUR.  217 

dience  to  the  g-uidancc  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  the 
two  imperative  conditions  of  success  in  findin'j  the 
Saviour.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  only  guide  to 
Jesus,  and  to  Jesus  only  does  the  Holy  Spirit  guide. 
He  guides  unto  all  truth,  that  is,  truth  in  all  its 
parts,  but  this  He  does  only  that  the  soul  might  be 
led  into  sympathy  and  conformity  with  the  absolute 
truth — Jesus  Christ.  Simeon  and  the  Spirit  is  the 
only  explanation  of  Simeon  and  the  Saviour.  Sim- 
eon was  so  sensitive  to  the  touch  of  the  Spirit  that 
he  saw  the  Saviour  during  His  first  visit  to  the 
temple.  This  was  the  first  time  for  any  one  to  meet 
with  Him  there,  and  the  first  time  in  all  probabil- 
ity in  which  it  was  possible  for  Simeon  to  meet 
Him.  He  who  had  sought  diligently  and  devoutly 
for  the  Lord's  Christ,  reverently  received,  and 
rejoicingly  embraced  Him  when  found.  The 
soul  knows  no  greater  serenity,  satisfaction  or  suc- 
cess than  to  embrace  the  Saviour.  When  Simeon 
embraced  the  Saviour  he  held  in  his  arms  the  sacri- 
fice for  sin,  and  the  secret  of  the  soul's  salvation  was 
solved.  Thus  did  Simeon  literally  "  hold  forth  the 
word  of  life"  and  "lay  hold  on  eternal  life."  It 
was  then  the  Christian  graces  were  made  complete 
in  the  character  of  Simeon:  his  faith  and  hope  were 
then  crowned  with  the  charity  of  Christ.  Law  and 
grace  met  inclose  embrace;  merCy  and  truth  kissed 


2l8  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

each  other.  The  soul  is  satisfied  only  when  it  em- 
braces Divine  Love,  and  when  satisfied  it  soars  on 
the  silvery  pinions  of  praise  to  the  heart  of  God. 
The  moment  vSimeon  embraced  Christ  he  "  blessed 
God."  Jesus  influences  thus  all  who  receive  Him. 
He  leads  all  men  to  the  Father  and  fills  the  soul 
with  grateful  praise  to  God.  Every  soul  privileged 
to  see  the  Son  seeks  the  Father.  Christ  in  the  arms 
means  peace  in  the  soul,  and  peace  in  the  soul  means 
praises  on  the  lips.  Well  may  he  sing  who  hath 
seen  God's  salvation.  The  secret  and  source  of  all 
song  is  the  Saviour.  Jesus  is  the  inspiration  of  all 
music,  and  all  who  embrace  Him  are  inspired  to 
sing.  Perennial  praise  streams  in  sweet  song  from 
the  soul  privileged  to  touch  the  Prince  of  Peace. 
The  soul's  pent-up  joy  in  the  possession  of  pardon, 
purity  and  peace  must  ever  find  vent  in  praise. 
The  soul  sings  only  when  the  secret  spring  of  love 
is  touched.  The  soul  of  song  is  the  song  of  the 
soul ;  the  song  of  the  soul  is  the  song  inspired  by 
the  Saviour.  Such  was  the  song  of  Simeon,  and 
such  is  the  song  of  every  saint.  The  Saviour  stirs 
the  soul  of  the  saint  to  song;  the  song  of  the  saint 
stimulates  the  sinner  to  seek  the  Saviour.  ■  Salva- 
tion is  ever  the  subject  of  the  saint's  song  and  the 
sweet  refrain  of  the  song  of  every  soul.  Simeon's 
song  is  immortal,  for  it  tells  how  his  soul  found  salva- 


SIMEON    AND    THE    SAVKrUR.  219 

tion  in  the  Saviour.  To  him,  salvation  and  the  Sav- 
iour were  one  and  the  same.  The  theology  of  Sime- 
on's song,  if  not  exhaustive  is  comprehensive.  It 
views  salvation  in  relation  to  the  individual,  to  the 
nation  and  to  the  world.  It  looks  upon  salvation  as 
bringing  "peace"  to  the  individual,  "glor}^"  to  the 
nation  and  "light"  to  the  world.  Thus  Simeon's  song- 
shows  his  spiritual  •insight  into  the  mystery  of  sal- 
vation to  be  keener  and  his  outlook  on  the  mission  of 
the  Messiah  to  be  wider  than  that  of  any  man  previous 
to  the  Lord's  death.  The  glorious  results  of  Gospel 
salvation  are  compressed  into  the  compass  of  his 
song.  Salvation  is  shown  to  be  from  God,  through 
Christ,  for  universal  man.  It  is  from  God  lie  has 
"  prepared  "  it;  it  is  a  conception  of  His  mind  and 
a  product  of  His  heart.  It  is  the  salvation  of  God 
in  very  truth,  partaking  of  His  nature  and  reveal- 
ing His  glorv.  God  is  in  it,  God  is  through  it,  God 
is  for  it,  therefore  Simeon  says,  "  Mine  eyes  have 
seen  TJiy  salvation.''  It  is  through  Christ;  He  is 
the  salvation, — the  means  of  deliverance,  the  Medi- 
ator, the  incarnate  love  of  God.  It  is  for  universal 
man ;  it  is  a  light  to  the  Gentiles.  As  it  is  from 
God  it  could  not  be  otherwise.  A  salvation  which 
meets  the  needs  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men 
can  alone  be  a  salvation  from  God.  Thus  Simeon 
had  a  glimpse  of  the  universal  Fatherhood  of  God, 


220  CxLiMPSKS  nv^  anr>. 

the  universal  brotherhood  of  man,  and  the  nniversal 
fellowship  of  faith.  If  he  viewed  salvation  from 
the  Israelitish  standpoint,  he  did  so  with  Christian 
insight  and  catholicity.  It  is  "  prepared  before  the 
face  of  all  people,"  "  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles 
and  the  glory  of  Thy  people  Israel."  It  is  true  sal- 
vation is  considered  as  "  the  glory  of  Israel,"  but  it 
constitutes  the  glory  of  Israel  only  as  it  uplifts  the 
world  from  moral  darkness  into  God's  own  light. 
True,  the  light  starts  from  Israel,  but  the  length  of 
its  circuit  alone  determines  its  lustre  at  its  source. 
It  is  a  glory  to  Israel  because  it  is  a  light  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. How  well  Simeon  understood  not  only  the 
universal  nature  of  salvation,  but  its  specific  influ- 
ence and  result.  It  is  a  "  light  "  and  a  "  glory." 
Light  ever  precedes  and  is  the  condition  of  glory. 
God  saves  through  moral  suasion  and  intellectual 
enlightenment.  Salvation  is  a  light  from  Heav- 
en, revealing  the  nature  of  God,  of  the  soul,  and  of 
sin  ;  revealing  the  way  of  holiness,  happiness. 
Heaven.  What  word  more  comprehensive  of  the 
work  of  salvation  in  the  soul  than  "  light?  "  Light 
not  only  reveals,  but  is  pure  and  purifying.  It* 
brings  to  life,  and  preserves  in  life.  It  is  revealing, 
purifying,  life-giving.  No  name  is  more  suggestive 
and  significant  for  the  Saviour  of  man  than  "  the 
light  of  the  world. ' '      That   which  is  light   brings 


SIMEON    AND     IHE    SAVIOUR.  22  1 

"glory.  "  Glory  is  the  crown  of  light.  Salvation  is  in 
very  truth  the  glory  of  God  and  man.  The  glory 
of  any  soul  is  to  become  a  light  to  the  world.  To 
minister  to  the  world's  salvation  is  the  glory  of  any 
nation.  Israel,  or  indeed  any  nation,  is  indebted 
for  all  glory  to  "  the  light  of  the  world."  Emman- 
uel is  humanity's  "  light  "  and  ''  glory."  But  the 
sweetest  strain  in  Simeon's  song  is  that  which  tells 
what  salvation  meant  to  his  own  soul.  Indeed,  his 
song  owes  its  being  and  its  beauty  to  what  he  experi- 
enced of  redeeming  love  in  his  own  soul.  His  song- 
only  expressed  the  music  with  which  his  soul  was 
filled  when  looking  on  the  salvation  of  God.  The 
keynote  of  his  song  is,  "  Mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy 
salvation. ' '  Simeon  never  appreciated  eyes  as  he 
did  when  he  looked  on  the  face  of  the  child  Jesus. 
The  eye  is  a  prophecy  of  beauty,  but  the  prophecy 
is  never  fulfilled  until  the  beauty  of  holiness  is  seen 
in  the  Lord's  Christ.  It  is  then  man  beholds,  un- 
dimmed  and  unmarred,  the  image  of  God  in  human 
nature,  ineffable  love  incarnate  in  human  flesh.  To 
see  God's  salvation  alone  fills  the  soul  with  peace 
and  the  heart  with  the  holiness  which  longs  for 
Heaven.  To  see  Him  who  "  brought  life  and  im- 
mortality to  light,"  alone  can  so  illuminate  the  dark 
territory  of  death  as  to  enable  man  in  peace  to  die. 
"  Now  lettest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace." 


2  22  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

The  "now"  marks  the  only  time  in  Simeon's  history 
when  it  could  have  been  possible  for  him  to  depart 
in  peace.  He  could  never  have  been  satisfied  to 
die,  until  he  had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ,  neither 
could  he  have  died  in  peace  had  he  not  seen  the 
Prince  of  Peace.  He  ever  longed  to  live  until  the 
Messiah  came ;  now  he  longs  to  die  because  he  has 
seen  the  Lord's  salvation.  The  superficial  will  be 
surprised  at  this,  but  the  spiritually  minded  and  he 
who  is  sensitive  to  things  spiritual  wn'll  understand 
that  it  is  of  all  things  the  most  natural.  Does  the 
child  long  for  home?  Is  it  strange  that  rivers  seek 
the  ocean?  AVhy  should  not  the  soul,  in  moments 
of  supreme  spiritual  ecstasy,  long  to  soar  to  the 
sphere  wdiere  it  may  commune  with  God,  untram- 
meled  by  the  limitations  of  time  ?  Simeon  well 
knew  that  the  world  was  never  so  promising  a  place 
in  which  to  live  as  when  the  INIessiah  had  come  to 
dwell  in  it.  He  would  make  the  wilderness  to 
blossom  like  the  rose  and  prove  Himself  to  be  the 
"consolation  of  Israel."  But  he  had  read  a  mes- 
sage of  love  from  his  Father  in  the  face  of  Jesus, 
which  had  made  him  long  for  home.  He  had  seen 
all  that  was  worth  seeing  when  he  had  seen  the 
Saviour.  He  saw  so  much  of  Heaven  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  that  his  heart  was  already  there.  Moreover, 
he  knew  that  He  would  be  "  spoken  against,"  and 


SIMEON     AND    THE    SAVIOUR.  223 

that  a  sword  would  pierce  the  soul  of  Mary.  He  did 
not  want  to  live  to  see  his  Lord  ill-treated.  He 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  living  to  see  Jesus 
the  ''  despised  and  rejected  of  men  "  and  "  led  as  a 
sheep  to  the  slaughter."  Every  Christian  would 
rather  die  than  live  to  see  his  Christ  crucified. 
''  Now  Icttest  Thou  Thy  servant  depart  in  peace," 
"  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  Thy  salvation."  This  is 
the  secret  of  a  happy  death.  Jesus  was  horn  that 
men  might  see  Him,  and  in  seeing  Him  lose  their 
dread  of  death.  Simeon  held  Jesus  in  his  arms, 
and  a  little  while  after  Simeon  was  "  safe  in  the 
arms  of  Jesus."  Simeon  was  permitted  to  hold  the 
Saviour  in  his  arms  because  the  Lord  had  long  been 
enthroned  in  his  heart.  Simeon  died  in  the  arms 
of  Jesus  because  he  had  found  the  way  into  His 
holy  heart.  Simeon  was  the  first  to  see  Jesus  as 
the  Saviour  of  the  world,  and  the  first  to  die  a 
Christian.  For  eternity,  interest  will  be  felt  in  him 
who  was  privileged  to  hold  the  eternal  God  in  His 
embrace.  When  Christ  came  from  Heaven  to 
earth,  Simeon  left  earth  for  Heaven.  Christ  came 
from  Heaven  to  earth,  that  all  who  would  believe 
in  Him  might  go  from  earth  to  Heaven.  Thus 
closes  this  noble  life;  Simeon  "  was  not,  for  (iod 
took  him."  Earth  can  afford  to  lose  Simeon,  for 
Christ  has  come.     Heaven  had  lost  so  much  in  thq 


224  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

departure  of  the  only-begotten  Son,  that  it  gladly 
welcomed  Simeon  to  the  family  circle.  Christ  was 
God's  last  message  of  love  to  the  world;  Simeon  was 
the  first  message  of  love  that  Jesiis  sent  from  earth 
to  Heaven.  If  Jesus  was  Heaven's  Christmas  gift 
to  the  world,  then  was  Simeon  earth's  New  Year's 
gift  to  Heaven.  Jesus  sent  Simeon  to  glory  as  a 
specimen  of  the  work  of  redeeming  love  in  the  world. 
Simeon  had  so  pressed  Christ  to  his  heart  that  he  had 
pressed  himself  into  the  heart  of  Holiness  and  Heav- 
en, and  this  is  the  secret  of  salvation.  He  became 
so  full  of  the  glory  of  God  when  he  embraced  the 
Lord's  Christ,  that  earth  could  hold  him  no  longer, 
for  Heaven  alone  was  fit  to  be  his  home. 


THE    UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED 
HUMANITY. 

"  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Myself." — Joiix  12:  32. 

Of  all  words  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  Him  who 
spake  as  never  man  spake,  none  are  more  startling 
or  sugg-estive  than  the  words  of  the  text.  It  will, 
however,  be  impossible  to  understand  their  sionifi- 
eanee  or  appreeiate  their  strength  until  we  are  able 
to  look  upon  the  eross  with  the  eye  of  the  Jew,  and 
thus  realize  what  it  meant  to  Jesus.  We  have  be- 
come so  accustomed  to  view  the  cross  of  Christ  from 
the  Christian  standpoint,  while  permitting-  all  its 
glorious  achievements  to  color  our  conception,  that 
it  is  almost  impossible  for  us  to  look  upon  it  from 
the  Jewish  standpoint.  For  this  reason,  many  are 
imablc  to  perceive  the  Heaven-born  heroism,  the 
calm  courage,  unequaled  confidence  and  matchless 
love  manifested  in  these  words.  To  the  Jew,  to  be 
crucified  was  to  be  doomed  to  eternal  dishonor 
through  the  niost  disgraceful  cleath.     Accursed  in 


226  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

the  estimation  of  the  law  and  of  the  people  was 
every  one  who  was  crucified.  Rome  usually  thou^jht 
too  much  of  her  own  dignity  to  disgrace  herself  by 
crucifying  her  most  criminal  citizen.  No  one  un- 
derstood the  cross,  all  in  all,  its  shame  and  its  suf- 
fering, better  than  did  Jesus  Christ.  He  knew  what 
the  Jew  thought  of  it  and  understood  that  in  cruelty 
and  in  disgrace  it  satisfied  the  cravings  of  His  ene- 
mies. He  realized  what  to  be  crucified  meant — 
physically,  mentally  and  nationally.  He  knew  every 
inch  of  the  way  to  the  cross,  and  from  the  cross  to  the 
grave.  He  was  fully  conscious  of  all  that  He  would 
have  to  endure  in  redeeming  the  world,  yet  when  near 
His  cross  and  with  Calvary  in  full  view.  He  utters 
these  words  so  full  of  the  assurance  of  triumph  and 
victory.  He  does  not  seem  to  see  the  .shame  of  the 
cross,  but  literally  turns  the  shame  into  glor}^  He 
shrinks  not  from  the  humiliation  of  the  cross,  but 
transfigures  it  into  glorification.  He  seeks  not  to 
be  delivered  from  the  cross,  but  with  the  eagerness 
of  love  rushes  on  to  embrace  it  as  the  means  of  up- 
lifting Himself  and  increasing  His  power  to  uplift 
humanity.  He  saw  in  the  cross  only  truth's  tri- 
umph and  virtue's  victory.  What  faith,  hope  and 
love!  What  divine  self-forgetfulness!  Not  a  sign 
of  fear,  although  His  soul  was  full  of  the  anxiety  of 
love.      Not    a   word    concerning   the    sacrifice,    the 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    IIU^L\NITY.     227 

siifTerinor  or  tlic  shame,  but  turnino-  tlie  sliadow  of 
death  into  the  clear  lii^ht  of  mornini^-  by  explainin^g;- 
the  efficacy  of  the  Atonement  in  the  words,  "  And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Myself. "  The  cross  cast  its  deep  shadows  all 
aloni;-  the  path  of  Christ.  He  carried  it  throuo-jiout 
?Iis  public  life.  He  probably  did  not  realize  that 
He  would  be  crucified,  until  the  close  of  that  mem- 
orable conflict  in  the  wilderness,  but  ever  since  that 
time  the  weii^ht  of  the  cross  rested  on  His  body  un- 
til the  weight  of  His  body  rested  on  tlic  cross. 
How  rough  the  road  the  Saviour  trod!  His  hands 
and  feet  were  torn  by  the  thorns,  and  the  blood  He 
lost  along  His  pathway  clearly  indicates  the  way 
the  Master  went.  It  was  such  a  heavy  cross, —  the 
cross  of  humanity,  to  be  carried  so  long  over  such 
rough  places,  with  His  flesh  torn.  His  shoulder  fur- 
rowed by  the  scourge  until  the  cross  touched  the 
bone.  What  wonder  that  He  should  fall  under  its 
weight!  It  could  not  be  otherwise  if  in  truth  He 
was  man.  But  if  His  physical  nature  gave  way  un- 
der the  strain  He  was  morally  strong  enough  to 
lead  the  crowd  to  Calvary.  He  ever  walked  before 
His  cross,  not  after  it.  l^>vcn  on  the  way  to  Calvary 
Christ  was  the  conqueror,  not  the  conquered.  Suf- 
fering held  no  surprise  for  the  Saviour;  the  cross 
covered  no  cruelty  from  Christ ;  death  had  no  secret 


228  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD.. 

anguish,  no  unknown  agony  reserved  from  the  Re- 
deemer. To  die  was  not  a  new  experience  to  Jesus; 
He  had  been  through  the  struggle  of  death  and  se- 
cured the  victory  of  the  Resurrection  before  it  had 
been  possible  for  Him  to  bring  back  Lazarus  to  life. 
He  crucified  Himself  in  Gethscmane  before  it  was 
possible  for  men  to  crucify  Him  on  Calvary.  He 
had  pierced  His  own  heart,  else  no  sword  would 
have  been  keen  enough  to  pierce  His  side.  Love 
alone  could  compel  Him  to  die,  and  of  His  own 
free  will  laid  He  down  His  life.  No  heart  con- 
scious of  these  things  can  fail  to  note  the  all-con- 
quering courage  of  Christ  when  He  says,  "  And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Myself." 
In  the  verse  preceding  the  text  the  Saviour  speaks 
of  vSatan's  downfall,  and  in  the  text  of  His  own  up- 
lifting. He  connects  both  with  the  cross  and  looks 
upon  the  crucifixion  as  the  direct  cause  of  one  and 
the  other.  Jesus  looks  upon  the  cross  not  as  a  part 
of  His  humiliation,  but  rather  of  His  glorification. 
He  not  only  sees  Himself  uplifted  from  and  through 
humiliation,  but  realizes  in  His  greatest  humiliation 
His  greatest  exaltation  and  glory.  The  measure  of 
His  humiliation  is  the  measure  of  His  glorification. 
Christ  was  not  only  glorified  because  He  in  love 
humbled  Himself  even  unto  death,  but  the  moment 
He  reached  the  lowest  point  in  His  humiliation  He 


UPLlFTKl)    CHRIS'l'    AND    UPLIFTED    ftUMANlTV.     229 

touched  tho  hio-liest  point  in  His  glorification.  This 
is  the  reason  why  Christ  connects  the  cross  with 
His  own  uplifting.  The  Saviour  speaks  of  the  cru- 
cifixion as  tlie  time  when  He  will  be  "  lifted  up," 
and  clearly  shows  that  His  uplifting  on  the  cross  is 
a  condition  and  a  certainty  that  through  the  cross 
the  world  will  be  uplifted.  Christ  and  man  are 
both  humbled  under  the  cross,  uplifted  on  the  cross, 
and  glorified  through  the  cross.  Humiliation  under 
the  cross,  uplifting  on  the  cross,  glorification 
through  the  cross.  The  earth  is  where  crosses  are 
found;  Calvary  is  where  crosses  are  planted;  Heav- 
en is  where  crosses  arc  lost.  Earth  has  its  cross, 
its  Calvary,  and  its  Christ;  Heaven  has  its  Christ, 
its  crown,  but  no  cross;  Hell  has  its  cross,  but  no 
Christ,  Calvary  nor  crown.  But  we  are  in  Calvary 
to-day  in  the  uplifting  of  Christ  and  in  the  uplifting 
of  the  world.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  first  and  final 
fact  of  the  text,  as  He  is  ever  the  sun  around  which 
revolve  in  a  rich  galaxy  all  the  glorious  truths  of 
salvation.  He  is  the  great  moral  magnet  which 
draws  humanity  to  Himself.  The  words  "  lifted 
up  "  and  "  draw  "  are  synonymous,  for  it  is  the  up- 
lifted Christ  who  draws.  He  draws  to  Himself, 
therefore  to  ''draw"  is  to  uplift,  so  that  our  sub- 
ject is — The  L^plif ted  Christ  and  Uplifted  I  luDianity. 
The  world  uplifts  Christ  on  the  cross,  and  Christ, 


230  GLIMfSES    OP    GOt). 

through  the  cross,  uplifts  the  world.  Humanity  up- 
lifts itself  in  uplifting  Christ,  and  Christ  uplifts  Him- 
self in  uplifting  humanity.  Christ  emphasizes  His 
own  uplifting  on  the  cross  as  the  only  condition 
imperative  to  the  uplifting  of  humanity,  through  the 
cross,  and  this  brings  us  to  consider, — 

I.        CHRIST    UPLIFTED    ON     THE    CROSS. 

The  civilized  world  is  agreed  that  the  darkest  spot 
on  man's  character  is  the  crucifixion  of  Christ.  The 
world  readily  points  to  Calvary  as  the  place  where 
man  is  seen  at  his  worst,  and  the  church  points  to  it 
as  the  place  where  God  is  seen  at  His  best.  The 
tragedy  of  the  cross  is  an  ever-recurring  fact.  In  a 
physical  sense,  Christ  was  only  crucified  once  in  our 
world,  but  morally  He  is  crucified  again  and  again. 
The  circumstances  correspond  very  closely  ;  the 
characters  surrounding  the  cross  are  ever  the  same. 
The  spirit  of  the  self-sacrificing  Saviour,  His  for- 
giving love.  His  strength,  sympathy  and  spiritual 
sorrow,  are  identical.  So  that  the  uplifting  of  Christ 
on  the  cross  is  not  only  important  and  instructive 
as  something  that  took  place  nineteen  centuries 
ago,  but  especially  as  that  which  is  taking  place  to- 
day. The  best  portrayal  of  the  world's  attitude 
toward  Christ  in  the  nineteenth  century  is  its  atti- 
tude toward  Him   in   the   first  century.     The   form 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     231 

of  crucifixion  may  vary ;  the  fact  and  factor  never. 
We  do  not  know  whether  Christ  was  crucified  in  any 
other  world,  but  we  do  know  that  if  love  declared  it 
necessary  that  He  should  die,  that  the  Christ  of  Cal- 
vary could  not  but  lay  down  His  life.  Christ  would 
die  again  in  our  world  were  it  necessary,  but  it  can 
nevermore  be  necessary,  manward  or  Godward. 
The  crucifixion  of  Christ  on  Calvary  is  a  physical 
demonstration  in  time  of  a  fact  having  a  spiritual 
significance  and  an  eternal  counterpart.  "  The 
Lamb  of  God  was  slain  from  the  foundations  of  the 
world,"  and  John  beheld  before  the  throne  "a lamb 
as  it  had  been  slain."  If  words  have  any  meaning, 
then  these  undeniably  teach  that  the  Atonement,  as 
a  fact  and  function,  in  its  relation  to  God  and  its  re- 
lation to  man,  is  eternal.  If  the  crucifixion  in  a 
spiritual  sense  is  an  ever- recurring  fact,  then  Christ 
must  ever  be  as  passible,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  to  pain, 
as  He  was  when  here  upon  earth.  To  make  Him 
otherwise  would  be  to  make  Him  incapable  of  either 
sympathy  or  suffering,  sorrow  or  sacrifice.  If  in 
His  ascension  He  has  become  impassible,  then  in 
being  glorified  as  the  Son,  He  has  become  less  real 
as  a  Saviour,  which  is  impossible.  ( )n  the  other 
hand,  because  He  is  passible  to  pain  and  pleasure 
He,  in  a  unique  manner,  suft'ers  as  surely  when  men 
crucify  Him  afresh  to-day  as  when  He  was  crucified 


^3^  GLIMPSES    OF    GOr). 

on  Calvary.  Would  any  one  know  how  and  why 
Christ  is  crucified  to-day?  Then  let  them  study  the 
history  of  the  crucifixion  nineteen  centuries  ago. 
Would  any  one  know  what  unbelief  and  sin  mean  to 
Christ  to-day?  Then  let  them  picture  vividly  before 
their  minds  the  physical,  mental  and  spiritual  suffer- 
ings attending  the  crucifixion  of  Calvary.  Let  no 
one  wonder  at  the  cruelty  of  the  Jew  without  also 
wondering  at  the  cruelty  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Do 
not  weep  because  of  what  was  done  unto  Jesus  in 
Jerusalem  without  weeping  because  of  what  He 
suffers  in  your  home  and  heart.  Think  not  for  a 
moment  that  if  Christ  lived  to-day  He  would  be  bet- 
ter received  than  in  the  first  century,  for  His  teach- 
ing would  be  so  much  in  advance  of  this  age  that 
men  would  certainly  crucify  Him.  We  might  seek 
to  destroy  Him  in  a  different  manner,  but  we  would 
be  moved  by  the  same  motive.  We  can  not  but  be- 
lieve that  the  church,  using  the  word  for  the  eccle- 
siastical body  in  contra-distinction  to  the  body  of 
believers,  would  lead  to-day  as  it  did  then  in  the 
attempt  to  put  Jesus  to  death.  Yea,  verily,  the 
church  to-day  is  often  putting  Christ  to  open  shame 
and  crucifying  afresh  the  Lord  of  Life.  Thus,  ever)^ 
fact  and  incident  in  connection  with  Christ's  death 
on  Calvary  has  for  us  a  two-fold  interest.  Let  us 
then  look  upon  the  way  Christ  was  uplifted  on  the 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AISTD    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     23^ 

cross.  The  mock  trial  is  ended.  No  single  charge 
has  been  substantiated  against  the  Saviour.  The 
judge  declares  that  he  finds  no  fault  in  Jlim,  and 
yet  He  is  delivered  up  to  be  crucified.  See  Him 
led  out  to  be  scourged.  A  sight  that  ought  to  make 
man  weep  tears  of  blood.  The  Son  of  God,  with 
His  hands  tied  behind  Him,  receiving  the  ter- 
rible scourge  about  forty  times  on  His  bare  back, 
each  cutting  through  the  flesh  to  the  bone.  .  He 
was  under  the  lash  for  about  fifteen  minutes.  Many 
died  under  this  cruel  treatment.  Oh  how  the  blood 
oozes  from  His  body  I  Roughly  His  garments  are 
thrown  over  Him;  a  crown  of  thorns  is  plaited  and 
placed  on  His  holy  head.  A  cross  is  laid  on  His 
shoulders  and  the  crowd  moves  toward  Calvary, 
They  go  but  a  little  way,  He  silent,  as  a  "  sheep  be- 
fore her  shearers  is  dumb,"  when  He  falls  under 
the  weight  of  the  cross  on  His  bruised  shoulder. 
Simon  then  comes  forward  to  bear  the  cross.  I 
thank  thee,  vSimon,  for  lending  thy  shoulder  to  bear 
my  Saviour's,  nay  my  own  cross.  Although  Christ, 
through  love,  had  made  it  His  own,  it  was  in  truth 
our  cross.  Christ  carried  man's  cross,  and  in  a 
strange  manner  man  carried  Christ's  cross.  It  must 
have  helped  Simon  to  bear  it  to  know  that  Christ 
had  carried  it  before,  and  especially  inspiring  must 
it  have  been  to  see  Christ  before  him  while  he  car- 


234  GLIMPSES    OP    CxOD. 

ried  it.  I  can  not  but  believe  that  Simon  was  glad 
to  help  Jesus  bear  His  cross.  Who  knows  but  that 
he  might  have  been  the  recipient  of  one  of  Christ's 
many  mercies?  Simon  but  little  thought  how  pre- 
cious and  sacred  was  the  cross  he  carried.  He  knew 
not  that,  figuratively  speaking,  it  was  the  material 
out  of  which  the  chariot  of  mercy  would  be  made  in 
which  He  would  go  home  to  glory.  Calvary  is 
reached.  Everybody  is  full  of  excitement,  save 
Jesus.  There  is  the  hammer,  there  the  nails. 
Now  Jesus  is  uplifted  on  the  cross.  A  nail  is  driven 
through  His  right  hand, — the  hand  that  had  been 
opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  the  hand  that  had 
been  scattering  seeds  of  kindness,  the  hand  that  had 
touched  the  bier  of  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain. 
The  man  who  drove  the  nail  but  little  thought  that 
it  had  gone  through  the  heart  of  God  before  it  could 
have  pierced  the  hand  of  Christ,  and  that  evermore 
God's  heart  would  be  riveted  by  love  to  that  cross. 
Another  nail  is  driven  through  the  left  hand,  then 
a  large  nail  is  driven  through  both  His  feet, — the 
feet  that  Mary  washed  with  her  tears  and  wiped 
with  the  hairs  of  her  head;  the  feet  that  had  been 
so  busy  bearing  to  and  fro  the  treasury  of  love,  and 
carrying  Heaven's  gifts  of  mercy  to  the  povert)^- 
stricken  world.  The  man  who  drove  the  nail  but 
little  thought  that   it  would  rivet  the  heart  of  hu- 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     235 

inanity  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  for  evermore.  And  oh, 
wondrous  sight!  The  weight  of  divinity  hanging 
on  those  nails!  Nay,  'twas  love  that  held  and  riv- 
eted Him  to  that  cross.  Excruciating  were  the 
pains  He  suffered,  and  oh  how  cruel  was  His  death! 
Gladly  would  we  draw  the  veil  over  the  sufferings  of 
the  Saviour.  Though  ostensibly  many  men  may  have 
suffered  a  more  terrible  and  tragic  death  than  did 
Christ,  yet  in  reality,  even  from  a  physical  stand- 
point, He  suffered  more  in  the  article  of  death  than 
was  possible  to  any  other,  for  the  more  spiritual  the 
nature  the  more  sensitive  it  is  to  all  pain.  We  can 
not  tell  what  Christ  suft'ered  or  compare  it  with  the 
suff'erings  of  men,  until  we  can  understand  how 
much  more  spiritual  He  was  than  all  men.  But 
this  is  not  all,  nor,  indeed,  the  most  important. 
Were  this  all,  the  story  of  the  cross  would  never  have 
possessed  its  charm  for  the  heart  of  humanity. 
There  is  no  intrinsic  virtue  in  physical  suffering,  but 
often  much  intrinsic  evil.  The  physical  suffering 
of  Christ  is  impotent  to  accomplish  any  good,  save 
as  an  expression  of  the  w^ealth  of  divine  love  and  a 
part  of  a  supreme  self-sacrifice  necessary  for  salva- 
tion. The  physical  suff'ering  of  Christ  is  not  to  be 
compared  with  His  mental  and  spiritual  suffering. 
The  strength  and  glory  of  His  self-sacrifice  are  seen, 
not   in    His  physical   suft'ering,  but   in  His  spiritual 


236  GLIMPSES    OF    GOO. 

sorrow.  The  supreme  suffering  possible  to  the  Sin- 
less Saviour,  because  of  sin,  was  spiritual  sorrow. 
In  a  unique  manner  Christ  suffered  the  aggregate 
of  all  that  the  guilty  ought,  and  that  the  guiltless 
could  suffer  for  all  time.  Though  all  the  spiritual 
anguish  and  the  remorse  of  the  children  of  men  be 
concentrated,  yet  it  would  not  compare  with  the 
suffering  of  Christ.  All  that  men  have  suffered  in 
earth  or  in  Hell,  He  experienced  in  the  work  of 
Atonement.  Christ  was  love  Incarnate;  nothing 
can  suffer  like  love,  and  to  be  "  rejected  and  de- 
spised "  is  love's  greatest  suffering.  We  must  re- 
member also  the  solitariness  of  Christ's  suffering. 
He  "  trod  the  wine-press  alone."  He  received  no 
supernatural  aid  nor  depended  on  any  supernatural 
power  in  His  spiritual  sorrow  and  struggle  for  su- 
premacy over  sin.  It  was  as  the  Son  of  Man  He 
suffered, — that  is.  He  employed  only  those  resources 
that  are  at  the  command  of  all  men,  and  gained 
His  victory  only  as  man  ma}^  conquer.  Jesus  died 
like  every  other  man,  only  that  death  meant  more 
to  Him.  No  one  hated  death  like  Christ.  Every- 
thing in  Him  was  antagonistic  to  it.  His  heart, 
the  home  of  holiness,  could  not  but  hate  this  enemy 
of  all  good.  Increased  complexity  means  increased 
responsibility.  Therefore  Christ's  complex  rela- 
tionship in  life  created  crushing  and  overwhelming 


UPLIFTFT)    CHRIST     AND    U  pj,]  I-'I'F.D     HUMANITY.     237 

issues  in  His  death.  Oh,  how  mueh  depended  on 
His  death!  Heaven  and  humanity  are  in  the  bal- 
ances. I  am  glad  that  death  meant  the  same  to 
Christ  as  it  does  to  every  man ;  that  he  experienced 
all  the  agony  and  grief  possible  in  death;  that  He 
knew  how  hard  it  is  to  part  with  the  living  and  to 
feel  the  tenderest  ties  of  love  broken,  while  the 
spirit  is  ushered  into  the  Great  Beyond  and  over- 
whelmed by  the  reality  of  the  Eternal.  He  suffered 
in  the  fullest  degree  the  last  and  greatest  agony 
possible  to  man.  He  experienced  the  worst  death 
and  conquered  death  at  its  worst.  None  but  the 
Son  of  God  could  so  suffer,  or  realize  what  it  is  to 
suffer  so.  The  cross  of  Calvary  was  but  the  exter- 
nalization  of  the  real  cross  on  which  Christ  was  cru- 
cified. As  the  real  cross  of  Christ  is  the  sorrow  of 
the  Sinless  because  of  sin  and  the  ingratitude  of 
sinners,  then  the  Crucifixion  is  an  ever-recurring 
fact,  and  however  much  He  may  have  suffered  on 
Calvary,  He  suffers  more  to-day.  Continually  the 
nails  are  driven  into  His  hands,  and  ever  is  the 
sacred  side  pierced.  After  the  resurrection,  Jesus 
asked  Thomas  to  put  his  finger  in  the  nail-prints 
and  his  hand  in  His  side.  This  shows  that  the 
marks  remained  and  that  the  sores  had  not  healed. 
We  believe  that  for  eternity  Christ  will  bear  on  His 
body  these  signs  of  sacrifice.     They  are  the  literal 


230  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

"  marks  of  Christ."  Many  men  reach  the  Saviour's 
heart  through  the  pierced  side  to-day,  but  there  is 
a  worthier  and  wiser  way.  Thus  is  Christ  up- 
lifted on  the  cross,  and  He  hangs  between  Heaven 
and  earth,  apparently  rejected  and  repudiated  of 
both, — deserted  of  God,  disowned  of  man,  tmclaimed 
of  time  or  eternity.  What  will  the  issue  be?  He 
is  near  enough  to  Heaven  to  lay  hold  on  the  hand 
of  God,  and  near  enough  to  earth  to  lay  hold  on  the 
hand  of  man.  Will  He  link  them?  Will  He  unite 
in  His  body  the  two  worlds?  Will  His  cross  effect 
reconciliation  and  redemption,  and  in  love  leave 
God  and  man  in  close  embrace?  We  can  only  know 
this  when  we  understand  the  influence  of  the 
Atonement.  Did  the  cross  bring  glory  or  dishonor 
to  Christ?     This  naturally  leads  us  to  consider — 

II.        THE    CROSS    UPLIFTING    CHRIST. 

The  cross  has  uplifted  Christ  in  the  estimation  of 
Heaven  and  human it}^  It  has  increased  the  au- 
thority of  Christ  in  all  worlds.  It  was  in  view  of 
the  Atonement  that  He  was  able  to  say,  "  All  au- 
thority is  given  unto  Me  in  Heaven  and  on  earth," 
and  because  of  the  cross  He  was  able  to  say,  ''  I 
have  the  keys  of  Hell  and  of  death."  Without  the 
Atonement,  Christ  would  have  been  without  the 
authority  to   forgive   sin,  consequently  unqualified 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     2  ^q 

to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  By  means  of  the 
cross  alone  it  was  possible  to  enthrone  Christ  in  the 
heart  of  man  as  He  is  always  enthroned  in  the  heart 
of  God.  As  God-man,  the  Saviour's  hi^^hest  i^lory 
was  attainable  only  throut^-h  the  merits  of  the  Atone- 
ment, lie  had  so  identified  Himself  with  humanity 
that  in  a  peculiar  sense  it  was  imperative  that  He 
should  uplift  the  human  race,  or  forever  go  down 
with  it.  Christ  is  crowned  with  a  glory,  through 
the  cross,  which  otherwise  would  have  been  unat- 
tainable. As  the  Son  of  God,  He  was  from  eternity 
clothed  with  the  greatest  glory.  But  in  order  to 
save  the  world,  He  "  emptied  Himself,"  and  thus 
laid  aside  His  glory,  which  in  a  mysterious  sense,  as 
the  Son  of  Man,  He  looked  upon  as  something  inac- 
cessible, save  in  the  completion  of  salvation,  consum- 
mate in  His  self-sacrifice.  Throughout  His  public 
ministry  He  refers  to  the  hour  when  the  "  vSon  of 
^lan  would  be  glorified,"  and  in  the  chapter  of  the 
text,  when  the  Greeks  desired  to  see  Him,  He  said, 
"  Now  is  the  Son  of  Man  glorified."  He  further- 
more prays  that  God  might  glorify  Hini  with  the 
glory  that  belonged  to  Him  before  the  world  was. 
These  references  surely  teach  that  Christ  connected 
His  glorification  with  the  work  of  salvation,  and  not 
until  He  uttered  the  words  "  It  is  finished,"  rose 
again  from  the  dead  and  was  received  unto  Heaven, 


240  GLIMPSES    OF    CxOD. 

was  He  crowned  with  the  supreme  glory  which  He 
had  secured  through  suffering-.  The  Apostle  says 
that  "  for  the  joy  set  before  Him  He  endured  the 
cross."  This  suggests  that  not  only  would  the  joy 
be  impossible  without  the  cross,  but  that  as  He  was 
the  Son  of  Man  the  attainable  joy  was  an  inspira- 
tion to  suffer  the  cross.  John  sees  Him  crowned 
with  many  crowns.  Without  controversy  these 
were  laurels  won  in  a  lawless  world,  and  tributes 
paid  to  Him  as  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  by  earth 
and  Heaven.  As  He  was  man,  it  was  true  of  Him, 
as  of  all  men,  that  the  way  to  the  attainment  of  the 
highest  and  fullest  life  was  through  self-sacrifice. 
The  law  held  good  in  the  case  of  Jesus,  as  of  all 
others,  that  "  He  who  would  save  his  life  must  lose 
it."  Christ's  greatest  charm  is  His  self-sacrificing 
life;  the  crown  and  consummation  of  His  life  is  His 
sacrificial  death.  Christ's  glory  was  assured  when, 
though  a  Son,  He  "  learned  obedience  by  the  things 
which  He  suffered,  and  being  made  perfect  He  be- 
came the  Author  of  eternal  salvation  imto  all  them 
that  obey  Him. ' '  This  learning  must  be  understood 
to  mean  undertaking  to  do  for  others  what  was  not 
necessary  for  Himself.  As  the  Sinless,  He  was 
exempt  from  suffering.  He  was  free  from  the  claim 
of  death.  There  was  nothing  in  His  character  which 
rendered  suffering  necessary  as  reformatory  or  re- 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     24I 

tributive.  Thcrcfurc,  death  could  ncvxT  have  gained 
ascendency  over  Him.  But  in  order  to  save  man, 
He  vohmtarily  suffered  and  died.  Nevertheless, 
though  as  the  Sinless  He  was  exempt  from  suffer- 
ing, there  was  a  moral  necessity  for  Him  as  the 
Saviour  to  endure  the  suffering  and  the  shame  of 
the  cross.  He  was  made  perfect  as  the  Captain  of 
our  salvation  through  suffering.  In  order  to  be- 
come efficient  as  the  Redeemer  of  men,  it  was  nec- 
essary for  Him  to  be  educated  through  suffering  and 
gain  the  ascendency  over  the  heart  of  humanity 
through  a  pre-eminent  and  permanent  manifestation 
of  His  power,  not  only  to  suffer  but  to  save  from 
suffering.  In  the  God  ward  relation  of  the  Atone- 
ment, physical  suffering  could  not  have  been  neces- 
sary. The  spiritual  sorrow  of  the  Sinless,  because 
of  sin,  as  expressed  in  His  humiliation,  was  probably 
all  that  could  be  essential.  But  in  the  manward  rela- 
tion of  the  Atonement,  physical  suffering  was  impera- 
tive, for  thereby  alone  could  the  sinful  appreciate  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Sinless  and  secure  due  appreciation 
of  the  sense  of  sin.  The  death  of  the  cross  was  at 
once  the  greatest  and  most  accessible  evidence  of 
suffering.  No  other  form  of  death  could  have  so 
effectually  and  unmistakably  furnished  the  neces- 
sary proofs  of  its  voluntariness.  Therefore,  in  no 
other  way  could  He  have  so  successfully  secured  the 


242  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

essential  incentive  to  the  faith  of  humanity.  In 
order  to  become  the  object  of  the  world's  faith,  it 
was  necessary  that  the  evidences  of  His  voluntary 
suffering  and  atoning-  death  be  within  the  reach  of 
all  men.  This  was  pre-eminently  secured  in  the 
death  of  the  cross,  because  of  its  publicity  and  pos- 
sibility of  proof.  It  was  "  not  done  in  a  corner." 
]Moreover,  the  death  of  the  cross  was  so  gradual  as 
to  enable  Him  to  preserve  to  the  end  the  use  of  all 
His  faculties.  It  furnished  Him  with  the  opportu- 
nity of  proving  the  voluntariness  of  His  death  by 
giving  up  the  spirit  before  the  crucifixion  could 
have  succeeded  in  killing  Him.  He  died  in  but  half 
the  time  necessary  to  perish  from  the  effects  of  the 
driven  nails.  He  "bowed  His  head,"  and  thus 
invited  the  King  of  Terrors,  who  otherwise  would 
never  have  had  courage  to  assail  Him.  When  His 
side  was  pierced  and  His  heart  revealed,  humanity 
stood  spellbound  at  the  revelation  that  He  died  on 
the  cross,  but  not  of  the  cross,  a  broken  heart  being 
the  scientific  cause  of  death.  There  is  a  sense  in 
which  it  was  binding  upon  Christ  to  suffer,  which 
is  emphasized  in  such  words  as  "  Ought  not  Christ 
to  have  suffered  these  things  and  to  enter  into  His 
glory?  "  This  "  ought  "  implies  a  moral  obliga- 
tion; the  obligation  existed  inasmuch  that  Christ 
had   pledged    Himself  to  the  work  of  redemption. 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPMFTKD     HUMANITY.     243 

Having-  promised,  the  law  made  it  imperative  that 
He  should  redeem  it.  But  the  real  "  ouL^-ht  "  of  all 
Christ's  sufferings  was  the  "  ought  "  of  love.  Love 
was  the  foree  which  made  His  death  imperative. 
Love  can  not  but  love,  and  as  the  cross  was  neces- 
sary to  remove  evil  from  the  universe,  Christ  could 
not  but  die.  He  could  not  "  save  Himself,"  for  He 
loved  to  save  others.  The  cross  of  Christ  was  God's 
most  potent  method  of  condemning  sin  in  the  heart 
of  the  sinful  and  of  revealing  divine  love  in  the 
work  of  salvation.  The  suffering  of  Christ  on  the 
cross  alone  successfully  showed  the  sacrifice  God 
made  in  spirit  because  of  sin  and  in  order  to  save 
the  sinner.  Had  Christ  not  died.  He  would  have 
been  destitute  of  the  most  efficient  power  in  His 
personality  to  influence  the  world  for  righteousness 
— sympathy.  Though  Christ's  sympathy,  in  a  moral 
sense,  would  have  been  perfect  without  the  Jewish 
murder,  yet  without  a  physical  demonstration  the 
world  would  never  have  learned  rightly  to  estimate 
it,  and  any  enhancement  to  Christ's  influence  in  the 
moral  universe  is  without  controversy  a  glory  to 
Christ.  Moreover,  without  tasting  death,  Christ's 
power  of  sympathy,  in  a  physical  sense,  would  not 
have  been  perfect,  for  there  would  ever  be  one  stage 
of  suffering  common  to  man  through  whicli  He  had 
not  passed.     The  greatest  glory  of  Christ  is  success 


244  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

in  the  work  of  Atonement.  Therefore,  that  which 
most  enhanced  salvation  increased  most  His  glory. 
In  death  He  succeeded  in  bringing-  the  world  to  look 
upon  sin  with  His  eyes,  judge  it  with  His  conscience, 
and  hate  it  with  the  hatred  of  His  holy  heart,  thus 
realizing  in  death  what  He  had  failed  to  realize  in 
His  life.  It  was  the  pierced  side  which  revealed 
His  heart,  and  His  revealed  heart  pierced  the  heart 
of  humanity.  The  crucified  Jesus  is  alone  the  con- 
demnation of  cruelty  and  crime ;  the  suffering  Sav- 
iour is  alone  the  efficient  revelation  of  God's  sense 
of  sin  and  the  secret  of  salvation.  When  the  sinful 
perceives  the  suffering  of  the  Sinless  because  of  sin, 
and  in  order  to  save  sinners,  he  sees  the  sublimity 
of  salvation.  In  death  alone  could  the  life  of  the 
Sinless  blossom  into  life  for  the  dying  sinner.  The 
greatest  triumph  of  saving  grace  is  that  the  suffer- 
ing of  the  vSinless,  while  showing  His  supremacy, 
succeeds  in  making  the  sinner  sensitive  to  the  sense 
of  sin  and  the  suppliant  for  and  subject  of  salvation. 
The  cross  glorified  Christ,  because  it  created  the 
channel  in  which  the  ocean  of  divine  love  could  flow 
in  a  perennial  stream  to  the  heart  of  humanity. 
That  which  best  shows  the  character  and  the  life  of 
Christ  to  man  most  glorifies  Him,  and  the  cross  is 
the  holy  of  holies  of  His  heart,  with  the  veil  rent 
asunder.     To  know  Christ  is  to  love  Him;  to  love 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANTTV.     245 

Him  is  to  live  for  His  orloiy.  Nowhere  may  Christ 
be  so  well  known  as  on  Calvary.  In  His  life  men 
saw  what  He  was  to  others ;  on  the  cross  they  saw 
what  others  are  to  Him.  In  life  He  showed  how 
love  could  sacrifice ;  in  death  He  showed  how  love 
could  suffer.  In  His  miracles  of  mercy  in  life  His 
divinity  transfigured  His  humanity ;  in  the  miracle 
of  love  in  death  His  humanity  transfigured  His 
divinity.  Given  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  the 
Atonement  could  be;  given  the  sinless  Son  of  ^lan, 
the  Atonement  could  not  but  be.  It  was  necessary 
manward  and  Godward  that  Atonement  should  be 
made,  and  it  was  essential  that  Christ  should  suffer 
before  man  could  appreciate  the  Atonement.  The 
cross  was  the  only  bridge  from  earth  over  the 
chasm  of  Hell  to  Heaven  which  the  Divine  Archi- 
tect had  erected  and  approved.  In  death,  Christ 
proved  the  strength  and  safety  of  the  bridge  by 
putting  His  own  weight  to  pass  over  it,  and  being 
proved  strong  enough  to  support  divinity,  then  safe- 
ly could  the  weight  of  humanity  be  placed  upon  it. 
It  might  have  been  possible  if  Christ  had  volun- 
tarily died  in  the  house  of  His  friends  at  Bethany 
that  the  Atonement,  in  its  Godward  relation,  might 
have  been  realized.  But  in  its  manward  relation  it 
could  never  have  been  realized  so  effectually  as 
through  the  cross.     All  the  interests  of  Heaven  had 


246  GLIMPSES    OV    GOD. 

been  entrusted  to  Christ,  and  in  a  tmiqiie  manner 
His  all  had  been  invested  in  the  work  of  Atone- 
ment. The  death  of  Calvary  was  the  final  effort  of 
virtue  to  vanquish  vice,  and  the  victory  of  virtue 
was  God's  glory  and  Christ's  crown.  Thus  the 
death  of  Christ,  though  intended  by  the  hate  of  man 
to  be  His  greatest  shame,  was  made  by  God  His 
greatest  glory.  "  Wherefore,  God  also  hath  highly 
exalted  Him  and  given  Him  a  name  which  is  above 
every  name ;  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow,  of  things  in  Heaven,  and  things  in  earth, 
and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue 
should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory 
of  God  the  Father."  The  cross  has  uplifted  Christ. 
There  is  more  moral  magnetism  in  the  death  of 
Calvary  than  in  any  life.  It  is  the  cross  that  draws. 
It  increased  Christ's  influence  upon  the  soul  and 
won  the  devotion  of  the  human  heart.  Christ's  hold 
would  not  have  been  half  so  great  on  humanity  had 
it  not  been  for  the  cross.  More  hearts  have  been 
moved  in  sympathy  by  the  sight  of  the  suffering 
Saviour  and  crucified  love  than  by  anything  else. 
The  cross  is  the  greatest  magnetic  power  of  the 
world.  Christ  uplifted  the  cross,  and  the  cross  ex- 
alted Christ.  He  not  only  gained  His  crown  through 
the  cross,  but  He  made  the  cross  His  throne,  from 
which   He  rules  in  righteousness  and  governs   in 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     247 

grace  the  whole  universe.  Many  men  who  despised 
Jesus  in  His  life  have  learned  to  love  Him  in  His 
death.  If  enemies  in  cruelty  outdid  themselves  in 
uplifting  Him  on  the  cross,  it  was  friends  who  out- 
did themselves  in  love  who  took  Him  down  from 
the  cross  and  laid  Him  in  the  grave.  Indeed  the 
hands  of  enemies  were  never  laid  upon  His  bod}^  af- 
ter His  death.  He  had  become  too  sacred  and  glori- 
ous for  any  hand,  save  the  hand  of  faith,  to  touch 
Him  evermore,  and  after  His  resurrection  no  eyes, 
save  the  eyes  of  love,  were  privileged  to  look  upon 
Him.  Every  step  from  the  cross  is  a  step  upward 
and  Heavenward.  He  was  crucified  between  two 
thieves.  He  died  amidst  nature's  groanings,  the 
hisses  and  curses  of  His  enemies,  tlie  sighs  and  sobs 
of  His  friends.  He  was  buried  with  the  rich  and 
"  rose  again  from  the  dead  "  amidst  the  music  of  na- 
ture's harp,  the  rejoicings  of  the  redeemed,  and  the 
melody  of  the  resurrection  morn.  It  was  in  death 
He  secured  the  right  to  a  grave.  The  earth  had 
not  expected  to  entertain  in  its  bosom  the  Sinless. 
Sin  had  given  to  the  sinful  a  chartered  right  to  a 
grave,  and  the  Sinless  had  to  borrow  the  grave  of 
the  sinful  in  order  to  secure  His  well-earned  sleep 
in  the  silent  sepulchre  made  ever  sacred.  If  the 
cross  was  roughly  prepared  by  the  carpenters  of 
Jerusalem   for  the   Carpenter    of    Nazareth,    whose 


248  GLIMPSES   OF    GOD. 

hand  had  never  made  a  cross  for  any  one,  His  grave 
had  been  prepared  by  exacting  love  and  made  as 
meet  as  any  grave  could  be  made  to  entertain  the 
temple  that  had  entertained  God.  The  glory  of  the 
resurrection  and  the  glory  of  the  Ascension  would 
have  been  impossible  without  the  cross.  How 
different  was  His  reception  to  Heaven  and  His  re- 
ception to  earth!  No  room  for  Him  in  the  inn;  no 
room  for  the  royalty  of  Heaven.  The  earth  seemed 
ill-prepared  to  receive  Him.  In  many  respects  He 
was  an  unwelcome  visitor.  The  door  of  the  stable 
alone  was  open,  and  the  manger  was  His  first  cradle. 
But  after  the  work  of  salvation  had  been  completed 
through  the  death  of  the  cross,  how  royal  a  welcome 
home  was  given  to  Him  in  glory!  The  angels  of 
Heaven  could  not  remain  there  the  morning  of  the 
Ascension.  They  formed  the  royal  procession  of 
the  King  of  Glory,  the  Conqueror  of  Calvary. 
Every  door  in  Heaven  was  opened  and  the  very 
gates  lifted  up  to  give  Him  entrance.  Willingly 
the  command  had  been  obeyed,  "  Lift  up  your  heads, 
oh  ye  gates,  and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  everlasting 
doors,  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in."  Em- 
manuel entered  into  His  empire  through  the  cross. 
It  was  on  Calvary  He  was  crowned.  He  triumphed 
more  in  death  than  He  did  in  life.  Samson  killed 
more  enemies  in  his  death  than  he  did  in  his  life. 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     249 

The  Saviour  secured  life  to  more  men  in  d5^ing-  than 
He  did  in  living-.  Christ  without  the  cross  would 
be  Christianity  minus  its  charm.  Theology  with- 
out the  Atonement  is  God  without  power  to  pity. 
The  glory  of  Christ  is  evermore  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  cross.  Take  away  the  cross,  and 
the  clearest  manifestation  of  Christ's  glory  will  per- 
ish. Salvation  without  sacrifice,  a  Saviour  without 
suffering,  would  be  the  same  as  happiness  without 
holiness,  or  Heaven  apart  from  both.  The  cross 
has  uplifted  Christ. 

III.        CHRIST    UPLIFTING    THE    CROSS. 

Previous  to  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  on  Calvary, 
the  crime  of  crimes  and  criminality's  consummation 
was  to  be  crucified.  To  the  Jew,  the  disgrace  of  the 
death  was  more  despicable  than  was  any  dishonor 
damaging  to  the  life.  Every  crime  could  be  con- 
doned, save  the  crime  of  the  cross.  But  to  be  cruci- 
fied was  an  unpardonable  sin.  The  words  "  Cal- 
vary "  and  "  cross  "  brought  a  frown  to  the  face, 
fear  to  the  frame,  and  fleetness  to  the  feet  of  the 
Jew.  How  great  the  transformation!  How  pre- 
cious is  the  word  Calvary  to  us!  To  the  Jew,  Cal- 
vary was  the  most  accursed  spot  of  earth.  To  the 
Christian,  it  is  Nature's  holy  of  holies.  They  loathed 
and  hated  the   cross.     We  love   and   reverence   it. 


250  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

It  is  the  subject  of  our  glory  and  of  our  song.  Was 
it  not  on  the  cross  that  Christ  died?  Is  it  not 
through  the  cross  that  we  have  life?  Is  it  not  of 
the  cross  that  the  choir  of  Heaven  so  sweetly  sing  ? 
Yea,  from  being  an  object  of  contempt  the  cross  has 
become  the  object  of  the  greatest  reverence.  The 
cross  did  not  bring  ignominy  to  His  name,  but  His 
name  brought  glor)^  to  the  cross.  Instead  of  being 
accursed,  it  is  sacred  to  millions.  To  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  it  is  a  sign  of  the  most  sacred  service 
and  a  symbol  of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice.  It  is 
worn  by  millions  on  their  hearts,  and  treasured  in 
the  hearts  of  many  more.  It  is  the  symbol  of  peace 
in  the  heart,  penitence  and  piety  in  the  soul,  and 
purity  and  praise  on  the  lips.  So  that  instead  of 
the  cross  bringing  dishonor  to  Christ,  Christ  brought 
glory  to  the  cross.  Figuratively  speaking,  the  nails 
driven  into  the  Saviour's  hands  and  feet  carried  life 
before  them  into  the  cross.  By  dying  on  the  cross, 
Christ  has  uplifted  and  transformed  it  from  an  in- 
famous implement  to  destroy  life  into  a  glorious 
instrument  through  which  life  is  saved.  In  the  very 
city,  in  the  very  century  in  which  Christ  was  cruci- 
fied, the  cross  ceased  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  way 
of  death,  and  became  honored  as  the  way  of  life. 
Even  in  a  few  weeks  after  Christ's  crucifixion  in 
Jerusalem,  the  place   of  all  others  where  the  cross 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     25 1 

was  hated  with  the  most  cruel  hatred,  it  became 
loved  by  thousands  above  all  their  treasures  as  the 
sublime  symbol  of  what  God  suffered  in  spirit  on 
account  of  sin  and  what  the  Sinless  Son  sacrificed 
to  save  the  sinner.  Thus  the  shame  of  the  cross 
became  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  the  suffering  of 
Christ  became  the  glory  of  the  cross.  The  cross 
crowned  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  in  dying  upon  it 
Christ  crowned  the  cross  with  glory.  It  was  neces- 
sary that  Christ  should  uplift  the  cross  before  it  was 
possible  for  Him,  through  the  cross,  to  uplift  the 
world.  The  cross  was  the  agent,  the  magnet,  the 
lever  in  the  uplifting  of  humanity.  ^len  thought 
that  when  the  nails  were  driven  into  the  hands  of 
Christ  that  once  and  forever  He  was  cast  out  of  the 
heart  of  humanity,  and  that  the  nails  barred  eter- 
nally the  door  against  Him.  Instead  of  that,  men 
only  placed  in  His  hands  the  material  with  which 
He  made  a  key  to  open  the  lock  of  the  human 
heart.  Yea,  the  cross  is  the  kc}^  of  love  which 
opened  the  heart  of  God  to  man,  and  the  heart  of 
man  to  God.  From  a  lifeless  tree  the  cross  has 
been  transformed  and  made  living  and  fruitful.  It 
bears  leaves  that  are  ever  green,  "  and  are  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations."  It  bears  on  its  branches 
the  richest  fruit  of  love,  to  feed  hungering  souls. 
The  tree  of  Calvary  will  live  when  every  other  tree 


252  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

will  die.  It  will  flourish  for  eternity  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  of  life,  bearing  its  fruit  of  love,  to  the 
delight  of  God,  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  the  life  of 
the  redeemed.  It  will  form  one  of  the  chief  adorn- 
ments and  attractions  of  the  Paradise  of  God,  the 
home  of  holiness.  Thus  do  trees  and  men  blossom 
at  the  living  toiich  of  the  Lord  of  Life. 

IV.        THE    UPLIFTED    CHRIST,     THROUGH    THE    UPLIFTED 
CROSS,     UPLIFTING     HUMANITY. 

Man  uplifted  Christ  on  the  cross,  the  cross  up- 
lifted Christ,  Christ  uplifted  the  cross,  and  Christ 
through  the  cross  uplifts  man.  The  text  unmis- 
takably teaches  that  the  purpose  of  the  Atonement 
is  the  transformation  of  humanity  into  absolute  con- 
formity with  Jesus  Christ.  The  moral  aim  of  the 
cross  is  to  make  man  like  Christ  in  character  and 
glory,  and  therefore  in  the  highest  harmony  with 
holiness.  Its  motive  is  to  uplift  man  into  perfect 
obedience  to  the  divine  will,  the  realization  of  the 
divine  purposes,  and  thus  fill  him  with  the  life  and 
glory  of  God.  Thus  salvation  means  conformity  to 
Christ.  Conformity  to  Christ  is  impossible  save 
through  the  cross.  The  cross  not  only  revealed 
God's  ideal  to  man,  but  made  its  attainment  and 
realization  possible  to  man.  The  object  of  the  cross 
is  to  draw  man  into  conformity  with  Christ,   and 


UPLIFTED    CHKISI-     AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     253 

thus  uplift  fallen  humanity  to  the  highest  attain- 
ment of  holiness  and  happiness.  Christ  died,  not 
to  seal  His  teaching,  not  to  reveal  the  nature  of 
God  nor  of  sin,  not  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  the  law, 
not  to  pay  the  debt  of  sin,  but  to  uplift  man.  It  is 
true  that  in  His  death  He  accomplished  all  this,  for 
it  was  all  necessary  to  man's  salvation.  But  it  was 
done  as  means  to  the  end,  and  not  as  the  end  itself. 
He  revealed  the  character  and  the  love  of  God  in 
order  to  win  the  heart  of  man.  He  met  the  claims 
of  the  law  and  paid  the  debt  of  sin,  that  it  might  be 
possible  for  holiness  to  pardon  and  love  to  save. 
Ikit  this  He  did  that  He  miglit  "  draw  all  men  " 
unto  Himself.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  the  divinely- 
ordained  lever  to  uplift  humanity.  For  nineteen 
centuries  the  cross  of  Christ  has  been  proving  itself 
to  be  the  power  of  God  to  uplift  man  intellectually, 
emotionally  and  morally.  Intellectually,  it  has 
given  the  human  mind  its  greatest  inspiration.  It 
has  revealed  truths  which  have  revolutionized  hu- 
man thought,  and  made  knowledge  accessible  which 
illuminates  the  intellect  of  man  with  the  light  of 
God.  Its  teaching  has  solved  some  of  the  problems 
that  had  ever  baffled  the  human  intellect,  and  while 
satisfying  the  mind  it  has  stimulated  and  sanctified 
thought.  The  intellectual  thought  of  the  world  lias 
practically  revolved  around  three  questions:  Whence 


254  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

am  I?  Why  am  I?  Whither  go  I?  On  the  answers 
to  these  questions  depend  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment of  the  world  and  the  hope  and  happiness  of 
humanity.  The  value  of  everything  written  or 
thought  is  commensurate  to  the  light  it  throws  upon 
these  problems.  Immanuel  Kant  said  that  it  is  the 
business  of  philosoph}^  to  answer  three  questions: 
What  may  I  know?  What  ought  I  to  do?  For  what 
may  I  hope  ?  These  are  identically  the  questions 
that  have  ever  agitated  the  human  mind.  That 
which  gives  the  most  satisfactory  answers  to  these 
questions,  therefore,  must  ever  be  considered  as 
having  rendered  humanity  the  greatest  intellectual 
service.  To  educate  the  intellect  is  to  ennoble  it. 
The  cross  of  Christ  is  God's  answer  to  these  ques- 
tions; it  alone  satisfies  the  intellect  and  the  heart  of 
humanity.  To  the  question,  "  What  may  I  know?" 
the  cross  of  Christ  replies,  "God."  It  reveals  to 
man  the  holiness  and  love  of  his  Father  in  Heaven, 
thus  furnishing  him  with  the  only  explanation  of 
life  and  the  key  into  the  mystery  of  the  universe. 
To  the  question,  "  What  ought  I  to  do?  "  it  replies, 
"  Love."  The  cross  of  Christ  reveals  the  heart  of 
God,  and  so  teaches  man  that  the  way  to  live  is  to 
love.  To  the  question,  "  What  may  I  hope?  "  it 
replies,  "For  holiness  and  Heaven."  The  cross 
of  Christ  is  the  assiirance  of  God  that  holiness  and 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIl'IF.D    HUMANirV.     255 

Heaven  are  attainable  to  humanity.  Thus  the  in- 
tellectual world  owes  its  light  to  the  cross  of  Christ. 
The  cross  uplifts  man  emotionally.  One  of  the 
strongest  forces  and  most  essential  qualities  in  the 
uplifting  of  mankind  is  that  of  the  emotions.  Hu- 
man lov^e  was  never  so  intensified  and  sanctified  as 
through  the  cross  of  Christ.  On  Calvary,  love  was 
revealed  as  the  greatest  power  to  uplift  the  world. 
The  crucifixion  was  love's  coronation.  The  cross 
of  Christ  has  made  humanity  more  sensitive  to  suf- 
fering and  sympathetic  with  the  sufi;erer.  If  love 
is  the  greatest  factor  in  the  life  of  the  world,  the 
cross  of  Christ  is  the  life  of  love.  The  human  heart 
has  become  so  sympathetic  that  crucifixion  as  a 
method  of  capital  punishment  has  been  forgotten 
from  the  world.  This  is  the  influence  of  the  cross 
of  Christ.  One  inethod  after  another  is  being  in- 
vented to  put  transgressors  to  death  with  as  little 
pain  as  possible,  and  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
this  method  of  legalized  murder  —  capital  punish- 
ment—will be  forever  abolished.  When  men  have 
lived  near  enough  to  the  cross  of  Christ  to  brcatlic 
the  spirit  of  the  prayer,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do,"  capital  punishment 
will  be  viewed  as  a  relic  of  barbarism.  Human 
sympathy  seeks  to  alleviate  suffering,  to  uplift  the 
fallen,   to  provide  for  the  perishing,  to  relieve  the 


256  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

oppressed  and  to  care  for  the  dying  with  a  self-sacri- 
fice unknown  before  the  death  of  Incarnate  love 
on  Calvary.  Is  liberty  taking  the  place  of  slavery, 
arbitration  taking  the  place  of  war,  charity  taking 
the  place  of  cruelty?  This  is  but  the  influence  of 
the  cross  of  Christ.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  uplifting 
humanity  morally.  The  most  fatal  blow  that  im- 
morality ever  received  was  the  death  of  the  cross. 
The  cross  is  the  greatest  moralizing  force  in  the 
world.  Wherever  the  cross  is  loved,  there  purity 
and  morality  are  honored.  Selfishness  and  sensu- 
ality are  paralyzed  in  the  presence  of  the  self-sacri- 
fice of  the  Son  of  God.  If  the  cross  does  not  create 
in  us  a  loathing  of  sin  and  a  love  of  holiness,  then 
there  is  no  power  in  the  universe  of  God  that  can  so 
move  lis.  The  cross  has  shown  self-sacrifice  to  be 
the  crown  of  life,  and  selfishness  the  ruin  of  the 
race.  Are  personal  purity  and  national  righteous- 
ness at  a  premium?  Then  the  cross  of  Christ  does 
uplift  man.  The  cross  of  Christ  uplifts  humanity 
to  the  possible  possession  of  eternal  life.  It  cancels 
for  the  innocent  and  irresponsible  the  evil  of  collect- 
ive sin,  and  for  the  guilty  it  makes  full  and  free 
redemption  possible.  It  uplifts  man  to  a  right  re- 
lationship with  God,  and  consequently  to  all  virtue 
and  grace.  It  uplifts  the  guilty  by  justifying  him, 
the  unclean  by  sanctifying  him,  the  dead  by  giving 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     257 

him  life.  It  uplifts  the  soul  to  associate  with  the 
pure  and  sanctified — yea,  God.  Whoever  is  going 
to  be  uplifted  through  the  cross  must  needs  be  up- 
lifted on  the  cross.  Christ,  through  the  cross,  is 
uplifting  humanity.  Christendom  is  only  a  proof  of 
the  uplifting  power  of  the  cross.  The  cross  is  draw- 
ing to-day  in  all  lands.  Christ  is  verily  fulfilling 
His  promise  of  drawing  all  men  unto  Himself.  He 
is  the  Saviour,  not  only  of  the  individual,  but  of  so- 
ciety;  the  Redeemer,  not  of  one  nation,  but  of  all  the 
human  race.  The  cross  of  Christ  is  to  be  the  means 
of  tiplifting  *'  all  men."  Humanity  went  down  as 
a  whole  in  its  representative  Adam,  but  came  up 
as  a  whole  in  its  representative,  the  second  Adam. 
If  we  would  rightly  interpret  the  words  of  the  text, 
it  is  imperative  that  we  avoid  with  the  greatest 
jealousy  limiting  in  anywise  the  "  all  men."  It 
means  not  the  elect ;  it  means  humanity.  It  speaks 
of  the  organic  salvation  of  the  human  race.  While 
the  teaching  of  Christ  Himself  makes  it  impossible 
for  us  to  believe  in  Universalism  —  the  salvation  of 
every  man — nevertheless  we  rejoice  to  believe  that 
Christ  Himself  teaches  that  though  some  may  be 
lost,  like  the  branches  cut  off  from  the  vine,  yet 
that  the  organic  whole  will  be  preserved  through 
salvation.  Thank  God  for  racial  redemption,  a  uni- 
versal  salvation,   a   world-wide   uplifting   of   man. 


258  GLIMPSES    OF    GOD. 

Christ  is  drawing.  He  will  draw  until  "  all  men  " 
have  been  uplifted  above  everything  mean,  selfish 
and  unholy,  into  the  clear  light  of  holiness,  where 
with  Christ  they  shall  reign,  filled  with  the  same 
glory,  enjoying  the  same  victory,  world  without  end. 
How  glorious  is  the  influence  of  the  cross  of  Christ! 
It  modifies  for  good  every  portion  of  Jehovah's  vast 
empire, — material,  mental,  moral,  terrestrial  and 
celestial.  Even  Hell  is  better  off  because  of  the 
Atonement.  The  cross  of  Christ  has  an  uplifting 
influence  on  the  whole  universe  of  God.  How 
glorious,  how  wise,  how  beneficent.  The  cross  of 
Christ  is  to  be  the  center  of  the  universe,  the  light 
and  life  of  all,  as  the  sun  is  the  center  of  our  solar 
system.  If  our  world,  through  sin,  had  become  out 
of  sympathy  with  the  moral  aim  of  the  universe,  and 
struck  a  discordant  note  which  marred  the  melody 
of  the  sublime  symphony,  through  the  cross  it  has 
enriched  the  music  of  the  universe  and  perfected 
the  melody  of  every  world.  Every  creature  in  the 
vast  dominion  of  God,  according  to  his  sensibility, 
suffered  on  account  of  sin.  The  higher  the  being, 
the  keener  the  suffering.  If  the  cross  of  Christ  is 
but  the  outward  manifestation  of  the  sorrow  and 
sacrifice  of  the  spirit  of  God  because  of  sin,  then 
how  greatly  was  He  moved  and  influenced  by  it ! 
If  God  was  thus  influenced,  of  necessity  all   His 


UPLIFTED    CHRIST    AND    UPLIFTED    HUMANITY.     259 

creatures  must  have  suffered  according:!;-  to  their  sev- 
eral susceptibilities.  Our  world,  therefore,  lessened 
the  aggregate  happiness  of  the  universe  through 
sin,  but,  thank  God,  through  the  cross  it  has  vastly 
contributed  to  the  welfare  of  all  created  beings. 
All  who  suffered  because  of  sin,  of  necessity  partic- 
ipate in  the  joys  of  redemption.  The  good  that 
befalls  any  world  can  not  but  affect  the  universe, 
for  the  same  reason  that  evil  can  not  be  limited  in 
its  influence.  The  cross  means  a  transformed  hu- 
manity; a  transformed  humanity  means  a  trans- 
formed earth ;  a  transformed  earth  means  a  trans- 
formed universe.  The  cross  of  Christ  has  increased 
the  happiness  of  the  imiverse.  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
universal  Saviour,  and  conformity  to  Him  is  the 
goal  of  all  intelligent  created  beings.  The  cross  is 
the  most  invincible  evidence  of  grace,  the  most  per- 
fect expression  of  divine  love,  suffering  unto  sacri- 
fice, in  order  to  save.  Therefore,  the  cross  must 
increase  the  aggregate  happiness  of  the  universe 
and  the  specific  happiness  of  all  created  intelli- 
gencies.  The  better  the  God  of  love  is  known,  the 
greater  the  happiness  of  His  creatures.  We  thank 
God  that  the  cross  of  Christ  not  only  uplifts  the 
world,  but  uplifts  the  universe,  and  that  cosmic 
transformation  is  the  aim  and  will  be  the  crown  of 
the  cross  of  Christ. 


DATE  DUE 

'"'^"^iiiiiii^ 

jBjm,  ^'n  "iiii 

CAYUORD 

PMIIXTEOINUS  A. 

